Sea Glass
by Meaningless Us3rname
Summary: Amphitrite finally cracks. She catches Poseidon having an affair in their own bed. Heartbroken she flees Atlantis and hides with the one person she knows no one would suspect. Her 'darling' stepson Percy. What will happen when the gods find out? Who will Percy side with? Post HOO set 5 years after Gaia's defeat. NO PerceBeth. T now maybe M later
1. Broken Crown

_Her exposed abdominal muscles rippled with tension with every stroke of her powerful tail, as she quickly swam through the dark water surrounding her. Her body was made for this; to travel the vast oceans in a matter of hours. Her flawless green skin was so smooth that it offered little resistance to the passing water. Only the slight tug of her flowing red hair behind her gave any indication that she was moving at near impossible speeds away from the palace and her adulterous bastard of a husband. She was beyond furious, and utterly crushed. She caught him this time in the one place he had sworn to be faithful._

 _'_ _In our fucking bed!' She mentally screamed as golden tears clouded the water._

 _She wasn't stupid. She knew about his many affairs, all his illegitimate children proved that, but he had always taken great care to hide them. For several millennia she played the good wife just like her foster sister Hera. She turned a blind eye, always knowing that every night he was not in their bed he was with some other woman. It hurt, of course, but she could always pretend he really did love her. She could make believe that on those nights he was instead fighting some great sea monster or perhaps creating some magnificent storm to humble the mortals who scoffed at their existence. It was a lie she created to protect herself, a dream that her king was faithful to his queen. He was at least considerate enough to never let her see in person the truth she knew to be reality… Until tonight. She could still hear that whore moaning as if taunting her. Behind her eyes she could still see him thrusting into her, not even caring that his wife was at the open door._

 _The beautiful mermaid swam a bit faster as she tried in vain to escape the painful memories. Golden trails stained her soft green face while she debated what to do. She could not return home, no that place would never be her home again. Where could she go? What would she do? She was scared because she did not have answers to those questions._

 _She could flee to one of her children's homes. However that would lead to all sorts of other problems and she would be have to answer questions she would rather not. Also she could not force them to choose between their parents. If she wanted to stay free they could not know where she was either. But how could she just abandon them? They were all she had left. What would they do when the learned she had disappeared? Would they try to find her? Rhodos and Benthesikyme might, Kymopoleia probably wouldn't care, and Triton would be too busy._

 _Just as she was beginning to regret her choice to flee, soft sand brushed against the underside of her tail immediately snapping her out of her thoughts. While she was distracted she nearly swam herself right up onto a beach. Kicking her tail under her to get into slightly deeper water, she used her powers to determine her location. When she discovered where she had swum to unconsciously she got an idea. There was one place nearby that Delphin would never look if he was sent to find her again. The one place that no one would ever look for her. She made her decision. Her deep green skin faded paler until she looked like a regular mortal, and her tail split into two perfectly shaped legs. A simple black knee length dress wrapped around her body as she slowly walked out of the surf with one thought in mind._

 _"_ _Please…" she whispered under her breath._

Percy Jackson walked home from a nearby train station to his apartment. He wore a tight fitting white button down shirt that complemented his strong muscles and a pair of black dress pants. Around his neck was a black skinny tie with two gold trident buttons that held his collar in place, and on his left wrist was a silver Rolex Submarine.

Normally Percy was not the type of guy to wear expensive jewelry, least of all a $10,000 watch, but they were gifts from his older brother and father respectively. The watch was his college graduation gift from his father, it was made of Atlantian Silver that could morph into a six foot trident with barbed points. While the two gold pins were from his older brother Triton when he had first gotten his job last year, they were each made of Imperial Gold and had the ability to expand into a set of armor whenever needed or to change into a golden charm neckless for less formal occasions. Both were enchanted to be nearly invincible and will always return to him if lost.

While he walked he couldn't help but smile as approached his apartment. It was a large fifteen story building that sat right on a man-made, or rather god-made beach. It practically screamed opulence that would not be out of place in SoHo or Tribeca to the north. So for a normal mortal his penthouse apartment would have cost millions of dollars, to a demigod it was a birthday gift. On his 18th birthday Poseidon had surprised him with the keys and deed to the entire building.

To say his mother was unimpressed would be an understatement. After an argument about how Percy was too young to live on his own and that an entire building was far too much. They finally decided that Percy could not move in until after he had graduated college or got married, which actually came first. Percy did agree with his mom that an entire building was way too much, so he had his father rent the rest of the building to mortals while he kept the penthouse to himself. He even had a special basement section that was open to demigods on quests, although in the four years he had lived here it had only been used once.

When Percy stepped off his private elevator into his common room he went over to the couch and collapsed. Working as the Gym teacher and swimming coach at Goodie High School was more tiring than he ever would have expected. He did love his job and he was immensely grateful for Paul helping him get hired. It was that for the past six months since he started he had to deal with the girls constantly flirting with him and the guys always being jealous of it. If there was one thing he regretted most it was absentmindedly answering yes to a student who asked if he was single. In his defense it was his first day and he was distracted scouting for monsters. Unfortunately since then hooking the hot new gym teacher became the goal of almost every girl in the school. Flipping through channels he finally settled on a broadcast of Troy. Not exactly very accurate he knew, but he still liked the action scenes.

Sometime later, during Percy's favorite part, his doorbell rang. He was seriously considering ignoring whoever was there, Brad Pitt and Eric Bana had just started their one-on-one fight to the death. It was an incredibly choreographed fight and surprisingly he had learned from talking to the actual Achilles that it was also the most accurate scene in the movie too. Both men had lost their spears and had begun fighting with their xiphoi.

Thrust. Twist. Block. Spin. The two actors fought as their characters clashed in a similar way to how Percy himself fought.

Thrust. Twist. Block. RING!

The doorbell once again interrupted the moment. Grumbling to himself Percy stood from the couch with one last glance at the TV. Hector had been knocked down with Achilles taunting him. At least the best part was over he thought while walking his main door. It that led to the public elevator and a small reception room for guests. He opened it to reveal a gorgeous pale skinned woman with short brown hair and stunning dark blue eyes. Her only flaw were the tear stains that adorned her slightly pink cheeks.

"C-Can I come in?" She asked timidly while fresh tears threatened to spill from her eyes.

Percy eyed the woman carefully, the building was protected like Camp so monsters shouldn't be able to enter, but he had no idea who this woman was. "Um, not to be rude but who are you?" he asked. Still on guard he watched in amazement as she began to change. Her skin became a rich green like healthy seaweed and her hair grew down to her hips while changing to scarlet. Finally her eyes seemed to hold crashing waves while her tears became golden. The woman pulled a very surprised Percy into a hug and began crying uncontrollably into his strong chest. Practically frozen in shock Percy was only able to mutter one word.

"Amphitrite…?"

Her only response was to sob harder. Percy was completely lost. He had a strange life, even by demigod standards, but this was by far the strangest thing he had ever experienced. He was standing in his open doorway practically supporting his step mother as she leaned all her weight on his chest and sobbed uncontrollably. His mind ground to a halt while he tried to process what was happening. After an awkward few minutes of standing like a mannequin Percy's sympathetic side finally won. He wrapped his arms around Amphitrite's slim waist and held her tightly. Maybe he was being a little too intimate with his father's wife, but in this moment he felt that she needed some kind of physical connection.

Several minutes later Percy picked up the green skinned woman bridal style, because she seemed unable to stand on her own at the moment, and kicked his door closed behind him. He carried her to the couch where he tried to lay her down with some default. He had to awkwardly position himself under her since she would not let go of his shirt. Somehow he wound up with her sitting on his lap with his arms still wrapped around her waist. If he wasn't so focused on her emotional state he might have noticed how nice her soft rear felt on his lap. Instead his mind was occupied with concern for Amphitrite.

"Shhhh… It's alright" he whispered in her ear which, like all mermaids, was pointed at the tip. He didn't really know what to say so he repeated the same things his mom told him as a child. "I'm here for you, don't worry Lady Amphitrite." He brought his right hand up to her head, which was still buried in his chest, and began stroking her hair. While running his fingers through her silky hair he noticed something important; she had no crown! The usual horns made of twin crab claws were missing making Percy feel even more worried. With nothing more he could do, he resigned himself to waiting for her to tell him what was bothering her.

The wait felt like an eternity when in reality it only took 20 minutes for the beautiful Queen of the Sea to calm down. When she had finally stopped crying the front of Percy's white shirt was now completely golden. Although she had stopped crying, Amphitrite had yet to pull away from his embrace. "Umm, my lady? If you don't mind me asking, well… um… can. No, um what is wrong?" Percy asked. 'Gods that sounded awkward, but what should he say?'

She looked up, and for a second Percy was worried that she would turn him into a goldfish for their suggestive position. Instead, when their eyes met all he saw was pain. She looked so vulnerable. Gone was the fearless Queen who led Atlantis' armies against the titans, in her place was a fragile woman. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot from crying and her face was marred by the golden trails of dried tears.

"I was never good enough…" she whispered so softly that Percy almost could not hear her. Fresh tears began to well up in her eyes. Percy had a guess now what had made her upset, but he still could not understand why she came to him. If anything his presence would be more of a painful reminder. Right? One thing was for sure, he was furious at the person who caused this proud goddess to fall so low.

"We don't have to talk about it now Lady Amphitrite."

She looked at him for a moment before responding. "Thank you Percy… For everything…"

"It is no trouble my lady. You are always welcome here." Percy tried to give her a warm smile as he stared right into her blue eyes. For a moment he would have sworn that she blushed, but it was gone before he could be sure.

"Percy… I'm sorry. I don't know why I came here. I-I just didn't know where to go. My daughters are the first place they would look, and if I stayed near the sea Delphin would find me again. Land is the best option to hide. But… I don't know where to go.

Percy remained quiet while the goddess in his arms poured her heart out. He merely continued with gently combing her hair with her fingers while she talked. Now he was positive his father was to blame. He knew the stories, Poseidon had sent Delphin to track down Amphitrite so he could marry her.

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

Amphitrite was silent for a whole minute and Percy was starting to get worried when she finally spoke. Although, it was much softer

then her earlier rant.

"I caught him. He was having sex with my sister Agave in our bed. The place where we sleep together, where we consummated our marriage, and where our children were conceived. It is like he doesn't even care about me or my feelings. I know he saw me too, he had the audacity to wink at me. I…" She trailed off as she buried her face back into Percy's chest as more golden tears cascaded down her face.

'Agave? Like the desert plant? Weird name for an ocean deity. Wait, damn ADHD. I can't believe that dad would do that, but then again I am proof of his infidelity. Actually now that I think about it, is this how she feels every time? No wonder Hera is such a bitch. I think I will apologize to her when I get a chance. Crap, I'm getting distracted again. Focus Percy.' "Lady Amphitrite, um. I don't want to sound mean, but doesn't my dad do this all the time?"

She looked up at him with tears streaking down her dark green cheeks. "He never did it in our room. It was supposed to be our special place. Also it's different now." He almost missed the last part because she mumbled it.

"What do you mean different?"

"I was never alone before. Every time he had another affair I could always talk to my grandparents. They would make me feel better"

"Wait, do you mean Tethys and Oceanus?"

Her only response was a small nod before resuming. "I love my grandparents. They were always there for me. They raised me. In fact half the reason my grandfather hated Poseidon was because of how he treated me. Did you know that neither of them were never once unfaithful? I always dreamed of a marriage like that."

"I thought Calypso was Tethys' daughter with Atlas?" Percy asked quietly mostly to himself.

Nonetheless Amphitrite heard him and decided to answer flatly. "On land she was no match for the titian of strength." More normally she said "Tethys still loves her youngest daughter though."

Percy's eyes widened slightly at the connotation. He quickly changed the subject back to their original topic. "But in the second war Oceanus and Teyths supported Kronos right?"

"Exactly Percy," choking back a sob she continued "they were against Atlantis and I followed my husband. Don't you see? I fought against them. I turned my back against them because I was stupid enough to believe when he swore he loved me. When I saw him with my sister it was like my world collapsed. Not only did he defile the sanctity of our bedroom, but now I had no one to turn to. I betrayed he only family that cared about me, for him. So I fled the palace, I dropped my crown in an underwater volcano and swore I would never be his wife again."

Finishing her story, Amphitrite broke down again. Percy now realized just how much pain this woman was in. He was also absolutely livid at his father. The next time he saw him, he resolved to punch him square in the nose. Father or not, no one was allowed to hurt someone this badly.

Straining his ears he heard her whimper softly into his chest. "I-I won't go back… Not again."

"You are safe here." He whispered back.

For the next hour he held her in silence, gritting his teeth at the occasional sob that escaped her perfect lips. Eventually he realized that she had fallen asleep. 'She must be exhausted from swimming so far, not to mention emotionally drained too.' He looked down to see her resting her cheek on his shoulder while her entire body was curled up on his lap. It actually reminded him of the way two lovers slept in movies. 'She is so cute,' He thought. 'Wait! Where did that come from? She is my mother. Err… Well step mother, but it is still weird. Right?' He shook his head to clear those thoughts and decided it was time for bed.

Since he did not have the heart to wake her up, Percy carried Amphitrite to his bed. He thought he would let her sleep there and he would take the guest room. A queen would be used to a master bedroom after all. Unfortunately his plans did not take into account that she would not let him go. No matter how hard he tried she would not release her grip on his shirt. He even tried to take it off, but that did not work because in her sleep she quickly latched back onto him. Now he had a sleeping goddess with her arms wrapped around his neck while her head was on his bare chest. He was so screwed.

Against his better judgement he simply got into bed with her. Almost Immediately Amphitrite lay on top of him. She also had somehow intertwined her legs with his. What made things really bad was that now that she was no longer crying, Percy noticed her black dress clung to her body tightly as if it was all she was wearing. The beautiful woman's generous bust was pressing firmly against his bare chest, and he could feel the slightly raised area of her nipples. Oh yeah, he was screwed when she woke up. He just hoped they didn't allow Leo to write his obituary.

That morning Percy's intuition proved to be spot on. He was awoken by a strong slap across his face. Percy quickly opened his eyes and found himself fearing for his life. The pair of eyes only inches from his resembled a violent hurricane. Her pursed lips were so close to his that he could feel her warm breath on his face.

Due to their proximity he could not help but notice that at some point in the night she had returned to her natural appearance. She looked as stunning as a blue-ringed octopus and twice as dangerous. Her hair fell down past her neck blanketing most of her exposed back contrasting the deep green skin with rich crimson tresses. Her face could only be described as angelic even when twisted in fury. She had precious coral lips on a heart shaped face with prominent cheekbones. Amphitrite's voice suddenly brought him out of his momentary stupor.

"What do you think you are doing?" She hissed with all of the venom of a sea snake.

For the life of him he could not understand what she meant or why she was so angry. Yeah he figured she would not exactly be happy about their sleeping arrangements, but that was her fault. She was the one that would not let go of him. Besides he did everything he could to comfort her, talk about ungrateful. "What the Hades was that for?" he asked angrily.

She just glared at him instead of responding. 'Fine. Be that way' he thought. He tried to push her off only to find he could not move his arms. Looking away from her angry blue eyes he shifted his gaze lower to see what was wrong with his arms. His left arm was crossed over his chest and Amphitrite was currently lying on it, and his right arm was….. OH FUCK. Percy almost had a stroke. He just answered two questions: why he could not move his other arm, and why she was so angry.

Somehow in his sleep, his hand had moved lower from her waist to under her skirt. He was currently holding tightly onto her soft rear. The worst part, he was positive she was not wearing any underwear. Percy quickly released his grip but, unfortunately because his arm was still pinned under her body so he was unable to remove his hand. He swallowed nervously and looked back into her eyes. His blood ran cold at what he saw. 'I'm so dead'

"Um…" Before Percy could say anything they were interrupted by his doorbell ringing. Internally he thanked every deity he could think of that was involved in luck as he used Amphitrite's surprise to force her off of him. He leaped from the bed and ran out the room as if Tartarus himself was chasing him. Actually, given the look in her eyes, he would prefer Tartarus right now. He rushed across his apartment and opened the door to reveal Hermes in his signature track suite.

"Rough nigh cuz?" The god asked with a knowing smirk.

"You could say that." He responded tiredly. Percy's sea green eyes widened when he looked down and realized in his haste he had forgotten to put on a shirt. He was standing there in wrinkled black dress pant from last night, his black hair was standing at odd directions, he had a fading red mark on his face, and he was pretty sure he smelled like Amphitrite's ocean scented hair. In an instant he realized why Hermes was grinning like an idiot. "What do you want?" He muttered.

"I might be a little insulted by that if I wasn't so proud of you right now. It's almost noon! You must have really been up late." He said suggestively while wiggling his eyebrows.

Percy's only response was an aggravated stare and a frown which Hermes took as conformation.

"Tell me, is she hot?" The messenger god asked, his grin never leaving his face.

Percy sighed knowing that no matter what he said, in a few hours all of Olympus would be trying to guess who the lucky lady was that slept with the Great Percy Jackson. He decided to just go along with it to make things easier on him. "Yes. She is absolutely gorgeous."

"Atta boy!" The blond messenger god gave Percy a high five. He then pulled out a golden envelope from gods knows where and handed it to Percy. "Here. You got a letter from Big B." Hermes turned to leave, but as the self-proclaimed god of pranks he couldn't leave without one last joke. "Percy catch." He called out just as his form disappeared.

Percy instinctively caught the object. When he opened his hand he could feel face burning from embarrassment. In his palm was a triple pack of Spartan Gold condoms. For that Special Immortal they said. "Like he even knows what a condom is." He muttered under his breath while pocketing the godly condoms. Taking a deep breath he slowly walked back toward his bedroom and he could swear he heard someone playing Taps.

He knocked on the door and stepped in. "Lady Amphitrite?" He saw her sitting on his bed with his white sheet wrapped around her body.

"What? Are you back to continue molesting me?" She spat.

"No! No, my lady. That was an accident I swear. It must have happened while we were sleeping. I'm sorry. Really. I am very very very sorry." He bowed his head while he spoke and felt a tingling sensation behind his eyes for moment. He heard Amphitrite take a deep breath before she spoke to him.

"It's all right Perseus. I over reacted. I thought you were taking advantage of me like your father did. I should apologize to you."

He was completely stunned. She had done a 180 in a matter of seconds. "Wha-" He was cut off by her holding up her hand.

"I viewed your thoughts to see if you were being truthful. You were, it really was an accident."

'So that was what that feeling was.' He thought to himself. He always forgot that gods and goddesses could do that. If he wasn't so grateful that he had not been turned to chum, he might have been a bit more annoyed at the blatant invasion of his privacy. Suddenly his body stiffened when he realized something she had said. "What do you mean like my father?" He asked, his voice wavering.

She simply shrugged and offhandedly responded, "The king gets what he wants, when he wants it."

'My father. He…' Percy felt like he was going to vomit. He had always looked up to Poseidon, he wanted to be just like him. His father was always so kind to everyone, he was a great man right? But how much did he really know about his father? He only really saw him a few days a year. Worse still was that Amphitrite acted so nonchalant about the topic, as if she had long since become used to it. Percy's fists were clenched so tightly it was a miracle his nails had not drawn blood.

"Percy," the green skinned woman called out to him breaking his train thought. "Can you let me borrow some of your clothes?"

The dark mood lifted and was glad that she had changed the subject. "Uh, sure, but why? Can't you just make some appear? Like how you changed form yesterday?"

"No. I cannot use my powers right now or it would be easy for Delphin to track me once he is sent out. Yesterday was different because I was still in the water at the time, there are so many water deities that such a small amount of power could have been of them. Using my powers on land would be like sending off a broadcast that quite literally says 'fish out of water'."

"Oh. That makes sense. Is that why you are not wearing any underwear?" He asked her, then clamped his hand over his mouth. 'Why did I ask that? Damn ADHD.' To his surprise instead of being angry she laughed. It was wonderful maybe it was a goddess thing but he thought her laugh was the most perfect sound he had ever heard.

"Perseus, I'm a mermaid. A tail would get in the way of a pair of panties. All I did change my normal attire to a simple dress. So no Percy. I am not wearing any underwear."

Hiding his blush he turned away from her and tried to ignore the teasing tone in her voice. He retrieved blue a Sea World tee shirt he thought was ironic and a pair of gray sweatpants. He handed them to her and left the room so she could change in peace. He went to the guest room and showered. Since it was a Saturday and he did not have work he dressed in a casual black tee shirt along with a pair of kaki cargo pants. As usual he wore his customary jewelry, although his armor was in neckless form so that the quarter sized gold trident pendant stood out against his black shirt. Finishing his attempt at containing his unruly hair, he left the guest room to find Amphitrite waiting for him.

Six hours later the two were sharing a margarita pizza on his balcony overlooking the water. They had spent the entire afternoon talking together after getting over the initial shock of the morning. He even surprised her by promising to help her hide and let her stay with him as long as she wanted. Percy got his own surprise too when she gave him a tight hug while thanking him. Since then she had spent the entire day smiling, something that made him very happy himself. He even got her to call him Percy instead of Perseus, which also made him happy.

After he made his promise the two of them spent the rest of the day talking. They had never actually had the chance to get to know each other before and they both found themselves enjoying each other's company. Percy found out that she was very different than the 'Queen' he had met before. When he asked her about that she told him it was because in the palace she was expected to act like royalty, and in his apartment she could just be herself. As time passed he found himself liking her more and more. He had almost forgotten that she was his step-mother. Since her current form was of a 25 year old woman and he was a few months past 23 it felt natural. To him it was like he was having a nice time with a good friend who was a few year older than him not an immortal goddess who was having marital problems with his father.

"By the way," she commented casually. "You never told me what Hermes was here for."

"Oh yeah. I completely forgot that he gave me a letter from Briares. Wait right here, I left it in the kitchen after breakfast." He told her. She simply nodded in response while brushing a strand of her long crimson hair out of her face. As Percy stood up from his chair she grabbed the last piece of pizza and happily began eating it. A few minutes later Percy had returned with the letter and complained that there was no more pizza.

"Stop being a child and open it" Amphitrite told him with a smile.

He opened it and began to read:

 _Percy my friend,_

 _I hope you are happy with your new job. Your father was so proud of you when he told me all about how you got your first mortal job. Also Tyson says hi, we were working together in the forges the other day. Let me tell you, that boy has got talent. I even taught him to some of the stuff the Elder Cyclopes knew. With his help Atlantean Silver is being smithed for the first time in two millennia. Which reminds me, I hope that Trident is serving you well. Anyway I wanted to ask you a favor. I need to work with Hephaestus for the next week and my house is under construction. Would it be too much to ask if you let my wife stay with you? She is not allowed in Atlantis you know, so she would have nowhere to stay all week. I know she is your sister and you live right on the ocean so it should perfect. Well I promise to make it up to you. I already have an idea for a great experiment with Tysons help you could have my greatest creation ever as my reward. She will be at your apartment at 6pm._

 _Thank you so much,_

 _Briares_

Percy reread the letter twice before reading it out loud for Amphitrite to hear. When he finished she asked him the question he was afraid to answer.

"Percy, what time is it?"

"5:45." He said nervously. The two looked at each other for a moment before jumping to their feet and rushing inside. Percy did not know what to do. He promised Amphitrite that he would keep her hidden for now, but he obviously could not just kick out his immortal half-sister. Angry sea goddess plus beach front apartment equals Percy needs a new house. Before he could think of anything the current goddess in his apartment got his attention.

"I hate to make things worse, but Kymopoleia doesn't have a human from. She is 20 feet tall and weighs 500 pounds. I do not understand how she is supposed to stay here."

Sighing heavily, Percy collapsed on his couch. He ran his hand through his black hair. "I guess we will find out when she gets here. Along with what to do about this," motioning to her "situation. If she is anything like she was when I met her 5 years ago, odds are she still hates you and dad. But I think she hates him more so she might keep your secret just to spite him."

Amphitrite sat down on the couch next to Percy just about a foot away. "Yeah I know she does." She sounded upset, which was kind of obvious to him since they were talking about her daughter hating her. Once again determined to be better than his father, Percy spoke up. "Maybe in this week she can learn to forgive you. I will help too. After all, you gave birth to her. A mother's love is strong, I know for a fact that many of the Olympians still love Rhea."

"Thank you Percy, but how could you know that about the Olympians?" She questioned.

He just gave her a sly smile "Oh you know, maybe a certain hearth goddess told me." The two of them shared a short laugh.

"I want you to know that no matter what happens with my daughter, I really appreciate what you have done for me. Yesterday was one of the worst days of my immortal life and because of you, today has been one of the best. You are nothing like your father, and you should be proud of that." She gave him another hug, just as the doorbell rang. The two of them separated and Percy walked to the door.

'Well, here goes nothing.' He thought to himself while he opened the door.

Honestly he did not know what to expect on the other side of the door, but he never would have guessed this. Standing in front of him was possibly one the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She looked about his age, and was maybe an inch shorter than him, with flawless pale white skin. She wearing stunning formfitting green dress that hugged every curve in her body and left little to the imagination. On her right bicep was an intricate silver band carved into a wave patter that wrapped around her arm and had a dark blue gem set in the center of it. Around her neck was a black pearl neckless with a black trident pendent that rested just above her cleavage which, like Percy's pendant, signified that she was a member of the Royal Family. Her most remarkable features were her alabaster white eyes and iridescent silver shoulder length hair. Percy was pulled out of his trance when the stunning young woman huffed in annoyance.

"Kymopoleia?" He asked tentatively. The last time he had seen her she was an imposing 20 foot giantess with jellyfish hair, so he was at the moment, very confused.

"Yes I am little brother." She responded still sounding slightly annoyed. "And call my Kym. Only my parents call me Kymopoleia and I hate it."

"I'm confused. I thought you were like huge and could not change form."

Kym smiled at him, not a fake smile like he remembered, but a real genuine smile. For a moment he was so distracted thinking how pretty she looked when smiled that he almost missed her explanation. "Briares made this for me last year for our anniversary." She motioned to the band on her upper arm. "To make the transformation he used an actual teardrop of Pontus imbued with ancient magic. This crystal is so powerful that as long as I am wearing it I can stay in this form indefinably. Also since Atlantean Silver is the most magical of all the divine metals he mounted the teardrop on this band to help channel the magic better."

Percy's jaw hit the floor when he heard her explanation. "Wow that is amazing."

"Yes, but Father will not allow me to return to Atlantis. Even with this new form." She had said the word father as if it was the worst curse imaginable.

"Kym, I'm sorry. That's terrible."

"It's ok." She said sadly. "My family never loved me anyway. They gave me away like a cheap toy."

He realized he had touched a nerve when he saw her morose expression with a slight sparkling of gold in the corners of her eyes. He wanted to see her happy like she was only a moment before. Without thinking about the consequences Percy pulled her into a hug. He held her with one arm around her waist and the other resting gently on the back of her head. "Well I am your family, and I care about you." He confidently stated. "And I know another person who does as well." Separating from the hug he took Kym by the hand and led her into the next room. When she saw who was the she let out a gasp and whispered one word.

"Mother?"

It took several minutes for Kym to recover from the initial shock of seeing her mother. Once she did, she immediately became furious. Unfortunately for Percy, as much as he wanted to hide behind the couch, Kym had tightened her grip on his hand preventing him from escaping.

Kym's white eyes narrowed dangerously "What is she doing here?"

If Percy had not spent the entire day getting to know her, he would have missed the flash of sadness in Amphitrite's eyes before her prideful goddess mode set in. She stood up and glared at Kym. "How dare you speak to me that way? I am your mother and your queen. Show some respect this instant."

"I have no respect for you." Kym hissed. "You are a horrible mother. You think just because you are queen you can do what you want? Well I have news for you, you just married a king. Nothing about you is royal, you're no better than a common whore. The only reason Poseidon married you was because you were the most beautiful woman to suck his cock."

"Do NOT use such language with me Kymopoleia! You know nothing of what you are talking about. You are an ungrateful child and worthy to wear the royal insignia after your betrayal. I should have allowed the council to throw you into Tartarus. A few centuries there would have taught you some manners."

By now the two sea goddesses had begun yelling loudly at each other causing Percy to wince at the intensity. He was seriously worried now because he could tell through his powers that Kym's anger had caused a small hurricane to form around his apartment. Amphitrite looked like she was also barely containing her powers as well. 'At least it can't get worse.' He thought to himself while desperately trying to think of a way to defuse the situation.

As if the Fates just had to prove him wrong, he noticed that the two women had begun glowing slightly. Mentally he could have sworn that he heard those old crones laughing at him. Before either of the goddess could go into their divine forms Percy finally snapped.

"ENOUGH!" He bellowed, causing both women to freeze and stare at him. "Both of you sit down and shut up." Percy commanded.

More out of surprise than intimidation, Kym and Amphitrite complied. Amphitrite sat back down on her couch, while Kym released Percy's hand and sat in the loveseat across from the couch, facing her mother. Percy remained standing in between the two as he spoke.

"We are going to have some long overdue family therapy. Got it?" Without waiting for a response he continued. "I will never understand why you immortals always act like children, but we are going to have a discussion like mature adults. Kym, I want you to start. Please explain to me and Amphitrite exactly why you are upset with her."

There was an awkward moment of silence in which Percy momentarily feared that he had simply directed both of their anger toward himself. Finally after what felt like an entity Kym spoke.

"That bitch is…" She was cut off by an angry glare from Percy.

"No name calling. Be respectful, the both of you. Understand?" He got hesitant nods from the two, and he motioned to Kym to speak. "Please start over Kym." He asked kindly.

"Fine… I hate her because of what she did to me. Her and Father threw me out like trash. They hate me." Even though she spoke comely, Percy noticed the storm outside increase in intensity.

"That is not true," Amphitrite cut in "we did not cast you out."

Percy remained impassive. It was clear that he would have to moderate this carefully. "Amphitrite, can you please wait your turn?" He asked with a comforting smile. She nodded her head, and Percy asked Kym to continue.

"It is mother. You and father never loved me, you were always ashamed of me. Triton is the beloved Crown Prince. Rhodos has her own island. Benthesikyme is 'the most beautiful mermaid.' I know you two could not stand your 'failure' child. I was and inconvenience because I was unable to change form, and I was an embarrassment because I was so clumsy. I was the stain of an otherwise perfect royal family. The moment you got a chance, you handed me off to Briares like some trophy, and banned me from Atlantis. I never even had a choice. Father only reinstated my status as princess last year because he felt I needed a 'king's authority' after my supposed betrayal. It was not out of kindness, he just didn't want to look bad in front of his brothers. No one has ever cared about me."

After finishing her explanation, Percy noticed that she had golden trails of tears on her face and that the storm had completely subsided. She was looking at the floor with her iridescent silver hair obscuring her eyes, but Percy could see the golden droplets falling from her pale cheeks. He wanted nothing more than to go comfort her like before. He hated to see her like this, she was his sister after all, but he knew for any chance of improvement he needed to remain neutral. It hurt his heart to see his family in so much pain though. He turned away towards the other woman in the room and asked her to explain her to explain her side. Percy saw that Amphitrite's shoulders were slumped a little and the corners of her eyes were sparkling. 'She told me this afternoon how much she loves her daughters, this must be killer her. I think she was angrier with herself than Kym.' He thought.

"I do love you sweetheart. I know you don't believe me, but you are my little girl. You, your sisters, and your brother are my proudest achievements and my reason for living. I swear on the Styx that I did not know that you were unhappy with Briares. I was told you chose to marry him and you retracted your position as princess. I am sorry. I am a failure as a mother…" Thunder rumbled signifying her honesty while Amphitrite final broke down and cried. She leaped off the couch and embraced her daughter as the two wept together.

Percy was struggling to maintain his calm appearance. He had honestly never been angrier in his life. Another of his father's lies had severely damaged his family. He began to wonder just how much suffering his father had caused. The reality was crushing for him. He thought about some of his father's other sons that he had faced, Chrysaor, Polyphemus, and Antaeus. Where they just like him? Did they have their image of their father crushed? Was that the cause of their delusions?

The last words of Antaeus came to his mind; 'I have failed you sister.' At the time he ignored his whisper thinking that Anetaus was just crazy, but now he was questioning everything. Did Antaeus actually have a sister and was she somehow connected to the reason he joined Kronos? There were just too many questions in his mind. Percy decided to let the mother and daughter have some time alone together, so he went into the kitchen cook dinner and think.

An hour later he returned from the kitchen to tell them dinner was ready. Much to his annoyance they were surprised he knew how to cook anything other than microwave popcorn. After some teasing on their part, the three of them ate dinner with some casual conversation. He was really glad that the two were reconciling. There was still some tension, but that was to be expected after several millennia of hatred fueled by Poseidon.

After dinner the three of them watched a movie together. Percy chose Titanic because of the obvious sea connection. During the move the three of them sat on the couch together with Amphitrite on his left and Kym on his right. By the end of the movie Percy noticed that both women had their heads resting on one of his shoulders and he had an arm around each of their waists. He thought it was a little strange at first, but his younger sister Aveline was always clingy during movies, so he figured it was a family thing.

When the movie ended it was almost midnight. Percy let Amphitrite sleep in his room and Kym in the guest room, while he would sleep on the couch. Within half an hour he felt sure the two were both asleep and put his plan into motion. He came up with the idea while cooking. It was by no means a perfect plan. Actually it would probably get him killed if anyone found out, but he felt he had to do it.

He got off the couch and, as quietly as possible, left the apartment. He used the public elevator to go down to the lobby. Exhibiting the building he walked down a nearby ally until he found an empty metal trash can. Percy looked around to make sure no one was around and then quickly filled the trash can with some paper and wood scraps that were lying around. Soon he had a strongly burning fire in the old trash can.

Percy took a deep breath. 'It's now or never he thought.' He took something wrapped in cloth out of his pocket and tossed it into the fire. The cloth quickly burned away, exposing what looked like a pure whit bull's horn, while he began speaking softly.

"I don't know if this is how it works for titans, but I sacrifice this Minotaur horn to Oceanus and Tethys. This is the horn I used to slay the Minotaur when I was 12 years old. It is my first connection into the Greek world and one of my most prized positions, please accept my offering and speak with me. It is very important."

He stood there for nearly an hour until there nothing was left but ashes in the trashcan. Percy let out a long sigh and trudged back to his building. He knew it was a longshot but he still had some hope. Instead he destroyed one of his favorite trophies for nothing. When he finally reached his apartment he collapsed onto the couch and closed his eyes.

Percy woke to the sound of waves lapping on the shore. It was not an uncommon sound considering his apartment was on the water, but the warm sand beneath his body definitely was. Percy opened his eyes and immediately got ready for battle. To his dismay, he found that he did not have any weapons with him and he got even more alert. He knew he must be dreaming, but only his enemies ever removed his weapons. He scanned the area around him looking for a potential ambush.

He was standing on a small tropical island. It was about the size of a football field with long wild grasses and a few palm trees scattered around. As far as he could tell he was alone, which made him nervous. Even if he was alone in the small island, he was surrounded by water that could be hiding anything. He heard footsteps behind him and he twisted around ready for an attack.

Standing a few feet away from him were a man and a women. The man looked to be in his 40s with short black hair. He was wearing a white classic Greek chiton with golden fasteners. The woman next to him looked about ten years younger with shoulder length brown hair. She wore a more feminine white chiton that hugged her curves and had gold seams.

"Well boy," the man spoke. "I am curious, why would a child of the sea god make a sacrifice to the titans of the sea?"

"You are…" Percy started but was cut off by the man.

The man waved his hand dismissively. "Yes, I am Oceanus and this is my wife Tethys. Now boy, I would like you to answer my question."

Percy had to take a moment to collect his thoughts before he responded. "I need you to do something, and I am willing to do absolutely anything for payment."

Tethys raised an eyebrow at Percy's statement. "What is so important that a demigod would sell his life to a titan?" She asked.

Without any pause Percy answered. "I want you to forgive Amphitrite."

At this both titans were clearly shocked. Neither one of them had even remotely expected Percy's answer. They had both assumed he wanted power or wealth. Also there was no one that knew about their close relationship with their granddaughter. Both titans became suspicious of the demigod.

Oceanus decided to break the silence that had descended. "What makes you think we have any relationship with the Poseidon's wife?"

"I know because she told me. She told me how you would always help her and that you spoke secretly for millennia. She also told me how much she loves you. Please, I will do anything you want, but she needs you two right now."

This got Tethys' attention. "What has happened?" She demanded, forgetting that she and her husband were pretending to have no interest in Amphitrite.

Percy spent the next hour explaining everything that had happened in the past two days. From Amphitrite's arrival to watching Titanic with her and Kym. When he told them about how his father had lied to Amphitrite about Kym's marriage, the two titans yelled in outrage. Percy even told them about his suspicions regarding his half-brothers and his fears that he will turn out like them. He also repeated Antaeus' last words which got the attention of the titans as well.

By the time he finished, Percy felt like he had spilled his soul. In hindsight he realized that he had basically told all of his weaknesses to two people he had never met before and who were potential enemies. He stood awkwardly feeling embarrassed that he had let everything get to him. He was just overwhelmed by all of the revelations in the past two days. The man he looked up to turned out to be just like the man he hated. It was too much for him.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a hand on his shoulder. His body stiffened preparing for an attack. Instead he found himself looking into a pair of kind blue eyes. Oceanus smiled and gave his shoulder a light squeeze. "It is all right boy. We will help you."

Before he could say anything Tethys also spoke. "We cannot stay any longer, the gods will notice. We will speak to you again soon." Oceanus released his shoulder and stepped away while Tethys handed Percy something. "When you wake up this will be in your hand. It is the best I can do without someone noticing my powers. Please give it to Amphitrite."

Percy opened his hand and saw a small violet peril. "I will. Thank you." The last thing he saw before his vision went black was the two titans smiling at him.

 **I know lot of this is the same as before, but I needed to start from the beginning with my edits. I wish I could scan and post pictures so you all could see the huge stack of papers I have with notes written all over them just on how to improve this story. Most of the beginning is good, in my own humble opinion, so it wont change as much as the later stuff that starts to become too confusing. Hopefully everyone reading this will like it as much as I do... As for future material it is coming, and I do have almost 15k words written that's still unpublished in the works. My goal is to make everything make sense by the end of October so that I can move on and start adding that new stuff.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. Love Lost

**So I know it has quite a bit of time since my last chapter. I was originally trying to post every Friday. Obviously that has not happened in a while. Sorry about that, I got bitch-slapped by Murphy's Law. Not to mention my classes and fraternity. Also fair warning: parts of this chapter may be disturbing to some people.**

The smell of bacon was the first thing Percy noticed when he opened his eyes. Groaning slightly at the effort, he pulled himself out of bed…er couch. 'That's right.' He remembered. He had let his immortal guests take the bedrooms last night and he had slept on the couch. It was by no means an uncomfortable couch, however he still felt a little stiff from it. Percy stood up allowing the blanket to fall from his broad shoulders, and proceeded to find the source of that entrancing smell.

Just outside of the entrance of the kitchen Percy froze when he heard voices resonating from inside. He knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but the question that Kym asked was something that he too wanted an answer to. He had been unsure how to approach the topic however.

"…I understand why you left, but why come here? Percy is _His_ son after all. I know you were always civil with that man's bastard children, but this? It does not make sense. All it will do is remind you of him."

Percy had to strain his ears slightly to hear Amphitrite's soft response to her daughter.

"Honestly I do not know myself. When I fled the palace I just swam. I never thought about where I was going, I just wanted to be gone. I did not take notice of my surroundings until after I felt sand on my chest. I literally swam ashore less than a few hundred yards down the beach from here. I was desperate and Percy was kind enough to take me in. Even if it was only as a step mother, he still showed me love that Poseidon ever did. You saw it yourself last night. I may not understand why I came here, but I am happy I did."

There was a long pause and Percy decided to use the opportunity to reveal himself. He was greeted by the smell of more delicious foods. "Good morning." He said as he sat at the kitchen table and the two immortals joined him. Across from him was Amphitrite dressed in a flowing crimson dress that matched her waist length hair and accentuated her generous curves. On his left Kym was wearing a more casual outfit consisting of a sea foam green tank top and a pair of jean shorts that showed off her long pale legs along with a good portion of her thighs. Percy had to close his eyes for a moment and remind himself they were family.

He opened them and decided to focus on the huge breakfast before him. There were eggs, toast, pancakes, sausage, bacon, and sliced fruit. He did not even know all of the foods were in his house. He tried to thank the two chiefs but they both were quick to say it was nothing special.

While the three of them ate, they got to know more about each other. He found it both ironic and slightly unnerving that Kym was the person who capsized the Poseidon ocean liner as an insult to her father. At first he was disturbed that slightly more than 3,000 people were killed when it capsized 50 years ago. It served to remind him that every immortal he has ever met has likely killed more people than he would ever meet in his lifetime.

Moving on from the more morbid topics, Percy learned that Amphitrite grew up with Hera in Oceanus and Tethys' palace and that the two had been best friends before their marriages. Apparently after neither was allowed to visit the other's husband's domain so they only saw each other in Iris message or the Centennial Gathering. He learned that both women had the same dream; to marry someone who truly loved them. Percy clenched his fist when he realized that neither of them had.

He honestly never realized that a god or goddess could suffer so much. Of course he had caught Dionysus crying after his son died, and he knew Hermes still visited Luke's grave, but he had never put much thought into it. Now, hearing that it affected his own family, he could not help but wonder if more of his immortal family was suffering.

He laughed as Amphitrite finished telling her story of when she and Hera had hidden Oceanus' crown with Tethys' help. 'Maybe not all titans are evil' He thought to himself. 'They seemed nice last night… that's right.' He had completely forgotten about the pearl he had placed in his pocket. Percy withdrew the violet pearl causing Amphitrite to gasp.

"Percy, where did you get that?" She questioned.

"It is for you." He said handing it to her. "But what is it?"

Amphitrite had golden tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she held the pearl in the palm of her hand. "This is Mariana Pearl. It is among the rarest and most valuable items of the sea because it only grows in the deepest trenches of the ocean, which are not under Atlantean control. It was also the centerpiece in Tethys' tiara. How did you get this?" Percy explained everything that had happened after she and Kym had gone to sleep. When he finished he was pulled into an almost cursing hug by Amphitrite.

"Thank you so much. No none has ever done something so kind for me." She hugged him tighter, practically smothering him in her large breasts. Kym was just laughing at his misfortune.

"Good job little bro, you have committed treason to make her happy. You sure know how to make a woman feel special." Kym teased. Percy could feel his face heat up at that, well more than it already was. Another thing he learned about her, apparently she liked teasing him.

Amphitrite released him and ran off to her room to try to message her grandmother leaving Percy and Kym alone. They spent the next few hours talking about humans in general. Apparently Kym had never been on land before which, when he thought about her natural form, made sense to him. By around noon Amphitrite returned with a big smile on her face.

"Thanks again Percy." She said giving him a quick hug from behind.

"I'm glad your back." He told her. "Kym and I were just about to head out."

Amphitrite raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Where are you going?"

"I coach the boys and girls swim teams at the school I work at. The girls are in the finals this afternoon. I thought it would be a good opportunity for Kym to see more of the surface and possibly interact with a few other mortals. I would take you as well but there is a daughter of Hermes on the team and he said he was going to be there for her race. Since you are technically in hiding we can't let him see you."

"I understand." She nodded. "Have fun you two."

As Percy and Kym left the apartment he could not help but feel happy about Amphitrite's now positivity.

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"Ok girls, I would like to introduce you all to my older sister Kym." Percy was currently standing before a large pool with 8 girls ranging from 15 to 18 around him. He had changed from his pajamas before they left and was now wearing his coaching attire. He was wearing a light green t shirt with the "Goode High School" printed in blue on the front. Since it was May he was also wearing a pair of light gray shorts. His armor was in neckless form and his trident had morphed from its usual ridiculously expensive watch form to look like more casual Timex Ironman sports watch.

Kym was standing next to him as she smiled shyly. He had to laugh. The woman who could sink a cruise ship in minutes was nervous around a little group of teenaged girls. The girls all began to swarm Kym asking her all sorts of questions from her unique hair color to how long she was in the city for. Finally he thought his sister had had enough. "All right. All right. You girls have to go change and get ready. The first race is in 20 minutes." They all grumbled a little but they obeyed their coach leaving him with his overwhelmed sister.

"Well," he laughed as she glared at him. "That is what mortal teenaged girls are like.

"I hate you." She said.

This only got Percy laughing harder. "Think of it as payback for your teasing earlier." She just huffed and walked over to his seat.

"You get to stand _Mr. Coach_." She responded. He just laughed more.

Some 15 minutes later of Kym giving him the silent treatment, the girls returned and began stretching. There were three heats today. Five schools including Goode were competing. In the first round all teams competed against the clock until out of 50 total girls there were only 20. After that Individual races would continue until the final round where only 8 would be left to race against each other.

Percy was had high hopes for his team. They had trained every day for hours for today. Also he knew that his oldest member Ashley, an 18 year old senior and team captain, wanted to impress her father Hermes. Officially Hermes was not allowed to make social visits of his children, but he and Percy had scheduled a very convenient delivery just when his daughter happened to be swimming. Even if it was only for a few minutes, his presence meant the world for his daughter. The package itself was an enchanted silver bracelet with a golden caduceus charm that gave the wearer enhanced stamina. After the tournament Percy would 'realize' he ordered the wrong item and give it to Ashley instead. Just thinking about all of the convenient coincidences made him laugh. Leave it to the god of tricksters to find the best loopholes in the ancient laws.

In the end Ashley got second place of the entire tournament and Percy could not be more proud. He even caught a glimpse of a grinning Hermes flashing away. He guessed the father just could not stay away from her final race. Of course Percy would not rat him out, as far as he was concerned, this time the messenger god got lost and wound up here. Even Kym looked a little excited. At least she was no longer mad a Percy for sending his team after her.

After the tournament Percy had taken the entire team and Kym to dinner in celebration. When he gave Ashely the bracelet she was so happy she broke down in tears. It made him smile to see how some of the gods at least wanted to be good parents. He knew it was difficult because of the laws so it was these small gestures that meant the world to demigods. The ten of them enjoyed their dinner and spent the evening talking together. To Percy's surprise Kym and Ashley had become close in the few hours they sat together. 'Most likely because of their godly connection.' He thought. 'It's good for her to make some friends.'

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Just after 8pm Percy and Kym returned to Percy's apartment. They met Amphitrite in the living room where she was on the couch reading a book with some symbols on the cover that Percy could not understand. They told her all about the swim meet and she in turn told them that she had decide to spend the day reading. Percy sat down on the couch next to her as Kym walked towards the far wall. He did not notice that something had caught her eye until she spoke up.

"Hey Percy, where is your wife?" Kym asked. Percy's blood ran cold. She was looking at a framed picture of Percy wearing a black tuxedo with deep gray trim, he was kissing a blond haired woman dressed in a long white wedding gown with a green fringe around the bottom. Both of their outfits were designed to match their partner's eyes; Percy's sea green and her storm gray. The two of them stood before a large alter from where Hera was uncharacteristically smiling after she had declared the two husband and wife.

To Percy's right were five men dressed in impeccable black tuxedos. Grover, his best man stood only a few feet away with a huge grin on his face. Next to him was a smiling Nico flashing a thumbs up along with Jason and Leo. At the end was Frank, the poor guy was trying to act like a tough son of Mars and Pretorian, but the tears in his eyes betrayed how happy he was.

On the Annabeth's left were three woman. Her maid of honor was Thalia in an elegant pink dress that she swore she would burn after the ceremony. Despite her obvious uncomfort in the dress she had a genuine smile on her face. Next to her were Piper and Hazel, who were much more relaxed in their dresses, also looking very happy.

"She's dead…" Percy mumbled turning away from the picture. The painful memories began to rush through his mind.

 **Flashback**

 _It had been six months since Gia was defeated. The two camps had decided to unite and become one. Camp Half-Blood became the new training grounds for all young demigods while New Rome became the living space for the demigods along with families. The city had tripled in size from the number of both Greeks and Romans who settled there. It was now known as New Olympus with the neighborhoods of New Rome, New Athens, and New Alexandria; the capitals of Rome, Greece, and a city both had controlled. Using some of the old Labyrinth ruins and some godly magic that Percy could not understand, they built a tunnel that connected the two camps with only a five minute walk. It was large enough to allow two 18 wheelers to drive side-by-side down the tunnel and it was beautify decorated with art of both cultures._

 _Percy was standing with his arms around Annabeth as the two of them watched the Sun set over New Rome. He was more nervous than when he was preparing for war. The two of them had spent the entire day together. Percy planned everything, he hoped it would have been the most romantic date they had ever had. They spent the afternoon in Olympus visiting places they had never had a chance to explore. Then the two of them ate dinner at a fancy restaurant in New York that Percy had to make a reservation two months in advance for. Finally he led her hand-in-hand through the Great Tunnel admiring all of the paintings, and sculptures along the way. When they reached his planned destination his heart began pounding. He waited until the sun was halfway below the horizon before he made his move. He released Annabeth from his embrace and moved in front of her. There under the setting sun, before the replica of the Trevi Fountain, he knelt down and proposed to the love of his life._

 _ **Time Skip**_

 _The wedding between two of the "Heroes of Olympus" proved to be the largest ceremony the immortal city had seen since Zeus and Hera had wed. It seemed every Olympian had a hand in making it an extravagant affair. Hera as the goddess of marriage had offered to officiate the marriage herself while every other god practically fought each other to make it perfect. After the ceremony Hermes and Apollo led an after partly that lasted for over a week. It was truly an incredible event that had everyone looking towards the future with smiles._

 _Only three months after the wedding the newlywed couple received the greatest news imaginable for them. Annabeth was pregnant. Soon they would be a family._

 _ **Time Skip**_

 _"_ _Push, come on Annabeth you can do it." Apollo spoke from behind her. She was in a room in Apollo's temple that looked exactly like a delivery room in a hospital. With the soon to be mother was her beloved husband holding onto her hand, Artemis acting as a midwife before her spread legs, and Apollo behind her monitoring her vitals. Percy could only watch hoping everything would turn out all right. He knew having both the goddess of childbirth and the god of medicine there was defiantly overkill, but he could not bear it if something happened to Annabeth or their baby girl. The two gods owed Percy a favor, so the moment Annabeth's water broke he cashed in._

 _For almost six hours Percy felt more helpless than he had in his entire life. All he was able to do was hold his wife's hand and say encouraging words to her while she screamed in pain. Several times he had worriedly asked the gods why it was taking so long, and every time they would calm him by explaining that long labors were not that uncommon. Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Percy, Artemis became exited and told the three of them that the baby was crowning. Forty five minutes later Artemis stood holding a small bundle of pink blankets. Inside Percy could see a small tuft of black hair and a pair of storm gray eyes looking at him. She handed the newborn to an exhausted Annabeth who cradled her baby close to her heaving cheats._

 _"_ _She's beautiful." Artemis spoke. "Have you decided on a name?"_

 _"_ _Yes," Percy answered, as Annabeth was too engrossed in her daughter to hear the goddess. "Her name is Zoey, after the brave woman who sacrificed her life to save Annabeth and myself." It was a decision the two had made several weeks ago. No one knew yet, and he had wanted Artemis to be the first to know. He could tell that she was pleased from the smile she gave him, something he doubted she did often for any males._

 _The male demigod and the goddess were both interrupted by a loud beeping. Percy was confused. He looked to see Annabeth with her eyes closed still holding Zoey._

 _"_ _Artemis!" Apollo's voice cut through the air. His normally teasing tone gone. "Something is wrong, take the baby." He commanded._

 _The goddess quickly nodded and embraced little Zoey to her own chest. "What is happening?" She asked._

 _Apollo's eyes glowed brilliant gold and he placed both hands on Annabeth's exposed abdomen. "Her womb has ruptured. She is bleeding internally." He spoke calmly while his hands glowed the same color as his eyes._

 _At the moment Percy was terrified, but he trusted Apollo. The god's skills in healing were without equal. However, a growing coldness in his chest began as he noticed the god had begun frowning. His hands and eyes glowed further. Minutes went buy and the frown only deepened. Soon it was replaced by a look of horror. "It's not working!" He exclaimed. "Percy cover your eyes, Artemis protect the baby. I am using my divine form." The god ordered, his voice left no room for argument._

 _Eyes closed Percy felt as if his entire body had turned to ice. He could see the bright light behind his eyelids, he felt the burning sensation on his skin. Apollo was in his divine form. Suddenly the world became black, he felt nothing, and there was only one sound in existence; a long drawn out beep. She was gone. The light faded and Percy opened his eyes. She looked so peaceful, just like she was sleeping, but he knew better._

 _In his numb state, Percy heard a roar of pure anger. He saw a glowing Apollo slam his fist through a nearby wall. He saw golden tears in the ever happy god's eyes. He could faintly hear the god yelling at himself as he watched him throw another punch at the wall. The coldness had nearly consumed Percy._

 _If his body was made of ice than the next thing he saw shattered it. On her knees sobbing was Artemis herself clutching Zoey. The blanket had move slightly. He saw it, that same blank stare that he knew his beloved wife had beneath her closed eyelids. Gray eyes with no light. She was gone too._

 _His wife. His daughter. His wife. His daughter. His wife. His daughter. His wife. His daughter. His wife. His daughter. They were both dead. He had nothing left…The cold had gripped his heart completely. Percy stood there. He never noticed the other Olympians flashing into the room worried about Apollo's explosive aura. He never heard the shocked gasps of the gods. He never felt his father's hand on his shoulder, or the tight hug Hestia gave him. He never saw Athena collapse in tears, or Hermes and Aries restraining Apollo from destroying his own temple. He never tasted the copper blood in his mouth from bighting his tongue. He never smelled the strong perfume of Aphrodite who was crying next to him. To Percy his world was black. He felt nothing._

 ** _Two days later_**

 _Not even Hades himself knew how Percy had broken into his palace, but there he was, with cold dark green eyes holding his sword to the god of death's throat. The fearless lord of the underworld himself could not help but shiver slightly at the look in Percy's eyes. Before him was a broken man. Someone with nothing to live for, who would openly threaten arguably the most powerful god alive._

 _"_ _BRING HER BACK." The demigod hissed._

 _For a moment Hades was too stunned to react. "NOW!" Screamed Percy. His grip on Riptide increased as a small stream of golden ichor ran from Hades' neck. Faster than he could react, pain erupted in his gut and Percy found himself skidding across the polished black marble floor. His back hit the far wall driving what little air he had left from his lungs. Coughing, he rose to his hands and knees. As he struggled to stand a strong kick to his ribs flipped him onto his back. A black boot placed on his chest held him into place and, despite his vigorous struggle, he could not free himself. Percy looked up into Hades' endless black eyes expecting to find his death waiting. Instead the god of death removed his foot and took a step back, although Percy made no move to stand again._

 _After a brief moment of silence Hades spoke. "Perseus, you have done much for my family and I like to think of you as a second son. Therefore I will overlook this. I know you are in pain." The god offered his hand to help him up. Percy gratefully accepted and shakily stood on his feet. He was surprised to see a table with Nico and Hazel facing each other, and Persephone sitting at one end. The chair opposite Persephone was overturned. All three of them were staring at him with mixed emotions._

 _Still gasping after the heavy blows he took Percy managed to ask what he wanted most. "Why…? Why did you take them from me? If you think of me as a son why did you kill my wife and daughter?" His eyes began burning as he blinked furiously to keep the tears from falling. Although, he doubted there were any tears left at this point._

 _"_ _I am sorry Percy. I truly am. If I could do anything to help you I would, but I can't."_

 _"_ _I will do anything. Please! You gave Orpheus a chance. I know I cannot play music but I can give you my soul instead. My eternal service… Anything just to let them live, even if I have to take their place." By now Percy had fallen to his knees as he begged the master of death._

 _The normally emotionless and stoic god looked troubled. "It is not the matter of me not wanting to. Trust me, after all you have done for myself and my children, I would gladly break a few rules to help you. Rather I physically am unable to. I cannot bring a soul back to life that I have not taken." Hades responded._

 _"_ _What does that mean?"_

 _Hades let out a deep sigh. "Annabeth and Zoey were not taken by me. I was actually unaware of their passing until yesterday when Athena came here demanding much the same thing. When I called Thanatos to ask him, he was also ignorant of it. He told me that both of them were supposed to live for another 73 and 91 years respectively, and that their names had simply vanished off of his list. My only guess is that they have entered the Realm of the Faded, which would mean that the Fates were responsible. I am so sorry Percy, but even us gods have to bend to Fate's will."_

 _This was the final straw. Percy collapsed sobbing. "Why? Haven't I done enough for the Fates? Don't I deserve a happy ending? I want to be selfish just this once. Am I just a toy?" He buried his face into his hands while his entire body shook from the force of his anguish. "What have I done to displease them?"_

 _As Percy continued crying, Hades stood awkwardly. He was never good with these emotional events. Sure he loved Persephone and his children, but he never really showed it. So this, one of the few people who had ever earned his respect, breaking down in such a way left him with no idea how to act. All he did was place his hand on the poor boy's shoulder doing his best to be comforting._

 _It was Persephone who saved him when her motherly instincts kicked in. He always knew she had a soft spot for Percy, even if she refused to admit it. She knelt next to him and wrapped her arms around him, pulling Percy into an embrace. Nico and Hazel stood next to their father watching. They, like Hades, were not very good at emotional things, although Hazel was significantly better than both of the men. For almost an hour Percy continued to cry on Persephone's chest until he finally fell asleep._

 **Some general news: I will try my best to get back into my schedule but at this point I make no promises. Also I have had some very different opinions on harem. I have decided to cancel it. I decided after the first chapter though I had thought that it would be a nice challenge to write a harem. However it has been brought to my attention that the majority of readers oppose it, so challenge or not it will not be a haremfic. Thank you for your continued support.**

 **Next chapter I will introduce a new character along with a slight time skip. The character has been mentioned before so try to guess if you can. Thanks for reading and as always comment or message me with any questions or concerns.**

 **PS: Sea Glass was not a random name, there is a deeper meaning behind it that will be reviled later. (Just to keep you guessing)**


	3. Awkward Hugs

Hera was furious. As she stomped back in forth across the opulent marble floor of her private bedroom, her normally beautiful face was twisted in rage. Her chocolate brown eyes occasionally flickered gold while her long black hair wiped behind her as if buffered from some unseen wind. An accidental burst of power had long since burned away her cloths exposing her flawless olive skin to the cool air. Hera's perfect body was surrounded by golden aura with an occasional flare destroying something.

The room itself was in shambles. Behind where the goddess paced were the ashes of what once had been an expensive bed complete with burned remains of the wooden canopy frame. Pieces of smashed statues littered the floor along with broken furniture and shattered vases. The only item in the room still undamaged was the full length mirror framed in gold that the angry goddess now paced in front of.

'It is his fault.' She screamed mentally.

It was always his fault. He was the cause of all of her problems.

Once, very long ago she was happy. She used to smile and laugh. She even used to sing, but no more. Not for almost three thousand years. Now it was just a distant memory, a fleeting dream that taunts her every time she closed her eyes.

She paused for a moment in front of her gold framed mirror while remembering all of the horrible and humiliating things he had done to her. Hera's life had truly ended the moment she was raped. She screamed and smashed her fist into the glass. Golden drops of Ichor stained the Persian rug below her. As she fell to her knees and wept, she could not recognize the distorted face before her.

"Get Up!" A loud feminine voice yelled.

"Omph!" Groaned a male voice. Percy Jackson opened his sea green eyes to find his older half sister sitting on his chest with a broad grin adorning her stunning pale face. She leaned close to him and kissed his cheek before leaping off of him and running out of the room giggling. Percy groaned again before rolling over off of the couch he slept on. Groggily he stood and slowly made his way to his room, which was currently being used by Amphitrite, to use the shower. He did not bother to knock because he could hear Amphitrite and Kym talking from the kitchen.

Standing under the rejuvenating warm water Percy thought back to what had happened over the past week. His stepmother and half-sister's arrival had made his life much more interesting these past few days. Amphitrite choosing to hide in his house was completely unexpected. For the longest time Percy had always thought she hated him. 'Maybe desperate times call for desperate measures' he thought to himself.

Then there was his half-sister Kymopoleia, who preferred to be called Kym. Last time he saw her she was trying to kill him and the others on the Argo II. When he read Briares' letter he was honestly afraid she might flood his neighborhood, but he trusted Briares enough to give her a chance.

After he had helped the estranged mother and daughter reconnect, he began to really enjoy his week. Kym had seriously opened up in the past days. She reminded Percy of his mortal half-sister who also acted just as childish. Although Aveline had an excuse since she was actually a child, Kym was... well he was smart enough not to ask, but she was at least two thousand years old. It was amazing how much a loving environment could change her for the better.

Percy turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. While he was drying off he heard a knock at the door.

"Hey Percy, breakfast is ready." Amphitrite yelled.

"On my way." He called back with a wide grin. Her cooking was the best. Ever since she first moved in, Amphitrite insisted on cooking breakfast. She claimed it was the least she could do for him being so helpful. He did his best to repay her at dinner, but he never felt his cooking was as good as hers.

Of course Kym decided that lunch was her time to shine, despite the fact she had absolutely no experience cooking. They had several small fires before Amphitrite put her foot down and decided that lunch was mother-daughter bonding time where the two goddesses would cook together. With her mother's help Kym was slowly improving with every attempt.

Percy quickly finished drying off and got dressed before joining his two of his favorite immortals for breakfast. As he stepped into the kitchen he was greeted with the sounds of laughter. He quickly sat in the empty chair and began eating. Sitting at the table across from him was Kym wearing a tight pink tank top showing off her generous bust, while next to him was Amphitrite was wearing a more conservative dark purple blouse that highlighted her long red hair and deep green skin.

The three of them were enjoying a traditional greek breakfast consisting of fresh baked olive bread topped with honey, walnut filled tiganites, and sliced tomatoes. It was paired with a glass of red wine and a small dish of candied figs. Amphitrite had made all of Kym's favorites this morning. Unfortunately for the three of them their odd family dynamic would be broken up by Kym's departure in a few hours. It had been a full week and she had to return to her palace.

None of them were particularly happy about her departure. Percy was just starting to get to know is half-sister, while Amphitrite was enjoying spending time with her estranged daughter, and Kym was a part of a family for the first time in her life. Although, Percy acted more like a father than a younger brother. Still she was very happy where she was and did not want to leave. She may have gotten some amount of respect for her husband thanks to the magic arm band he made her, but he was still more of an acquaintance than anything.

They were hardly husband and wife. In fact legally, according to ancient traditions, they were not because they never did consummate the marriage. Briares did not have any interest in anything outside of the forges. Not that she would complain sleeping with a man with 50 penises was deeply disturbing to her. She did briefly entertain the idea recently because his new form with his own magic armband was rather handsome, but he was still uninterested. He did once mention that due to his imprisonment in Tartarus he could not reproduce and had thus permanently lost all sexual urges. Instead he focused on his work. It was his true wife, and it produced his true children. When he gave Kym the enchanted armband, Briares had apologized for being such a poor husband. It was the product of countless millennia in Tartarus. He needed to focus on his hobbies or he would fade completely.

Briares' new hobby led him to the mortal world where he was using his more normal form to work as a mortal in auto shops and forges across America. Something about the challenge of limiting himself to mortal abilities and tools made him happy. This along with how he always spent time in Atlantis' forges and with Hephaestus meant that Kym was almost always alone in their shared palace. It would be difficult for her, since for the first time ever in her long life, she was enjoying being around other people. Even when her husband was at their palace, she still went decades or sometimes centuries without seeing him. He did not love her, just as she did not love him. It made her sad. Now that she had a small taste of family, she wanted more. She wanted someone who loved her, she wanted someone to be with her always like Percy had been these past few days.

The doorbell ringing caused her to slip out of her internal musings. She, her mother, and her brother had just recently finished their exquisite breakfast. The youngest princess of the sea knew only one person would be at the door now. It was likely her husband to escort her home. He may not love her, but he was still a good man. They had become something similar to friends in recent years, and he did care about her wellbeing. Something she appreciated, even if it was unassay.

Percy moved from the table to answer the door. He had a pretty good idea who it was, but he still sent Amphitrite to his room just to be safe. It was best not to tempt the fates too much. When he opened the door he was actually a little surprised at what he saw. He did know that Briares had his own armband, but to actually see a Hekatonkheires with only one head and two arms was still shocking. The former creature who stood taller than the largest mountains with one hundred arms and fifty heads now looked like an Abercrombie and Fitch model with wide shoulders and a tight shirt that showed off his impressive muscles honed from long hours at the forge. His completely brown eyes were now human like, complete with irises, pupils, and sclera. Instead of being bald, he had long white hair reminiscent of paintings of his father Ouranos. Most importantly, at least to Percy, it smelled like Briares had learned what a shower was.

"Wow B. you look good." Percy gave him a thumbs up.

"Thank you Perseus. I am coming to enjoy being able to blend in with Olympus. Plus everything is much more challenging now. I love it. In my true form I could do pretty much anything easily because of all my arms. Ah, I almost forgot." The big man pulled Percy into a strong hug for a moment before stepping back. "Tyson wanted me to give you that. The project we are working on requires constant supervision so he was not able to come with me."

Percy invited him inside as he responded. "I'm glad you too are getting along. You were always his hero."

Birares stepped into his demigod friend's apartment. "I am not sure if Kym told you, but I am unable to have children. That boy is the closest I'll ever get to having a son. Teaching him everything I know is my reason for living now. I imagine this is what your father feels like when he is with you." By the end he had a large grin on his face.

At that moment Kym entered the room. "Hello husband." She said neutrally. Not overly cold, but it was still clear she was unhappy about leaving.

Briares was nothing if not patient, someone of his age had to be, so he responded with a casual wave along with a simple greeting. "Hello my dear, I hope you enjoyed your stay." She nodded and he continued. "Good, come we must return. I have to make a few adjustment to these bands to function better outside of the deep ocean. If you would like you can visit Perseus again in a few weeks." He held out his hand and took hers into his own. Before the two of them flashed out Briares said one last thing to Percy. "That reward I mentioned may take longer than expected, we have had a slight setback in our project."

"It's fine. No reward is necessary. I liked having her around… Actually there is something if you don't mind." The black haired demigod thought for a minute before leaning in close and whispering something in his large friend's ear.

"Hmm." Briares said rubbing his chin with his free hand. "It I'll see what I do, but it can will take a few days."

"That is perfect"

"All right my friend. We must be going." The large man said.

"Bye Percy." His sister waved to him with a large smile as the two of them disappeared in a bright flash of light.

A few minutes later another knock on the door sounded. This actually surprised him because he was not expecting anyone else. He looked around the room to make sure that Amphitrite had not come back out before opening the door. Standing there was Connor Stoll grinning like a madman and holding a small brown envelope. Percy sighed, ever since Connor and his brother Travis had become minor gods to help their father with his many deliveries, their pranks had gotten more complicated because now they got the input of the master of all pranks. He was now expecting some crazy thing to happen based on how happy Connor looked. Instead the tall son of Hermes handed Percy the envelope. He gave Percy a mock salute. "Complementary rush delivery for the Hero of Olympus." Then he disappeared in a flash of light.

Still weary of a potential prank, Percy closed the door and carefully opened the envelope. Inside were several papers and a State of New York driver's licenses. There was a picture of a brown haired woman with blue eyes and pale skin with the name Amanda Curry printed under it. He looked over the other details of the card; height 5'10", weight 125 lbs, age 28.

With the ID and documents still in his hand he went back to his bedroom and knocked on the door. "Hey, Amphitrite. They are gone, and I have a gift for you."

She invited him into the room. The two of them sat close together on the edge of the bed. He handed her the ID and documents. "I had the Stoll brothers make this. I didn't expect it to be finished in only one day."

"What is it?" The former queen of the ocean asked while carefully examining it.

"The plastic card is your new driver's license. The other papers are various birth certificates, diplomas, etcetera. All forged of course with the Hermes guarantee. The last paper is an accepted job application to Goode Prep as the new school nurse. I figured this way you can actually leave the apartment without getting caught."

She was silent for a moment. "This is very sweet of you Percy, but I don't look like this and you already know I cannot use my powers to change my appearance."

Percy had a grin when he looked at her. "Not yet. I asked Briares to make me an armband to match this form. In a few days it will be impossible for any gods to recognize you unless you want them to."

Amphitrite threw her arms around him a crushing hug while tears formed in her eyes. "Thank you so much." She whispered into his neck. She was so happy, it was still strange to her that he would do so much to protect her knowing what would happen if he was caught. He didn't even ask for anything in return. He was so much like she wished his father would be.

The two stayed like that for a while. Her in his lap with her arms around his neck and him holding her tightly around her waist. She had her face buried in his chest while he rested his on the top of her head. Neither wanted to move. She felt safe in his arms, despite being exponentially more powerful than him. He felt calm inhaling the scent of her long red hair that reminded him of a soft ocean breeze. They both subconsciously held the other a little tighter.

After nearly ten minutes they were pulled from their respective thoughts by Percy's cell phone ringing. They both jumped slightly and quickly moved away from each other while he answered. Normally demigods avoided cellphones because the signal was like a flare to attract nearby monsters. In his case however, he was so feared by most monsters that that same flare caused them to flee the area. He frowned, it was just a wrong number, but it had ruined whatever moment he and Amphitrite were having. Now he felt awkward. Why had he done that, why had _she_ done that. They were not that close, but still he could not help but feel disappointed now that they had separated. Was it wrong for him to want to hold her again? He had known her for years as his slightly angry stepmother, so why did she seem different now?

Unknown to Percy Amphitrite was having very similar thoughts. She was trying to hide her golden blush on her green skin by facing away. Swallowing she recomposed herself, she had centuries to learn to hide her emotions after all.

"Why that name?" She asked, desperate for a distraction from her thoughts.

"Huh?" Percy was confused for a second before he realized she meant the name on her new ID. "Oh, well Amphitrite would obviously give it away so I tried to think of one similar and Amanda was the best I could come up with. Curry is the last name of the fictional superhero Aquaman's secret identity. Since he is the king of Atlantis I thought it would be fitting for you. Also his wife Mera actually looks a lot like you without your skin tone. I bet she is probably based off of your description." She was silent. "I-If you don't like it I can get it changed. I…"

He was cut off by her. "No. I like it. Amanda sounds nice and the last name you chose is very clever. I would like to know more about this Aquaman person who inspired you though."

Percy could not help but laugh at her request. They spent the rest of the afternoon with him explaining comic books to her. In the back of both of their minds was the events of before. Soon they would have to address the elephant in the room, so to speak, but for now both were content to ignore it.

EDIT: Holy hell! I have no idea why all of those random ass symbols appeared. It was fine when it was first uploaded. This will replace that version. Sorry Everybody.

AN:Ok. I know it has been a long time. I could make a whole bunch of excuses about school, work, and life. but no one carese about that. rather ill just say ive been busy. The fist 1000 words of this have actualy been written since may but i had writers block. Now usaly my goal is to hit at least 5000 words per chapter, this one is slightly above 3000 but it has some important scenes... its a little slow now but soon it will pick up.

If you have any questions you want answered, please let me know!

Interestingly enough Mera is a mononym. She is only ever referred to as Mera and doesnt actually have a last name.

As always, thanks for reading!


	4. Bro Time

Almost a month had passed before anyone started looking for the missing queen of the sea. In that time Percy and Amphitrite had settled into a routine. Every morning they cooked breakfast together before the two of them left for work. They had lunch together in the teachers' lounge then, after work, returned home to cook dinner together like they did for breakfast. On weekends Percy took the opportunity to show Amphitrite everything the city had to offer. They had yet to return to the same restaurant and he was determined to help her try everything. Well everything but Sushi of course, being able to talk to fish made it very hard to eat them. To the prince of the seas it almost felt like a weekend form of cannibalism. Also on weekends Amphitrite helped Percy create lesson plans for the Greek language and mythology elective he had been nominated for when the previous teacher retired.

He still could not forget the looks of his colleagues when the vice principal, aka his step dad Paul, mentioned that the new gym teacher with relatively poor grades was perfectly fluent in modern and ancient Greek. He was immensely grateful that Amphitrite was more than willing to help him out in and out of the classroom. He did partly miss being the gym teacher, it was defiantly fun to run around with his students, but teaching was also really fun for him. He felt like he was channeling Chiron. His only actual complaint was now he had to wear his fancy clothes every day instead of only during faculty meetings. Thanks to that, combined with his car and apartment there was a rumor going around that he was the son of some billionaire.

His attire consisted of a black William Westmancott 'Ultimate Bespoke' business suit with a dark blue Christian Lacroix 'Fantasy Pattern' tie depicting breaking ocean waves, and a pair of black Testoni dress shoes. That combined with his jewelry gave his wardrobe a total price tag of well over $100,000. Goode may have been an elite prep school, but even that was well above their standards. Percy laid all of the blame the love goddess Aphrodite who dragged him across Europe on an extended shopping spree with her unlimited card about a year ago. The worst part was that particular trip was his godly rival Aries' idea who, in a rare moment of intelligence, realized Percy would be miserable during such a trip.

Percy's car was a black Maserati GranTurismo MC Centennial Edition with dark blue trim. It was another outrageously expensive gift from his godly parent who had no concept of mortal values. He received the car for his most recent birthday, but he had yet to use until about two weeks ago. He only recently started driving instead of walking because of the cold. His inner boy was ecstatic such an incredible car, while his more humble side felt slightly uneasy owning something worth almost 4 times the average income in America. Also, while his father denied it, Percy suspected that it was partially because the symbol was a trident. Still he was not about to complain about a car that had Hephaestus' seal of approval on the dashboard.

Worst was that he accidently let slip that he owned the building he lived in. One of his more resourceful student looked up his address on the faculty web page and discovered the building there was worth several hundred million dollars. Within hours it seemed the whole school knew. All of this attention and the rumors surrounding him made Percy incredibly uncomfortable. Something that Amphitrite was not against teasing him for.

The former queen had not gone unnoticed by the students and staff. She was hardly subtle on her first day, arriving with Percy and wearing a see foam green Oscar De La Renta dress. She decided that if Percy was going to wear the highest class of clothing than she would as well. The dresses she wore on a daily basis ranged from $30,000 to $80,000 in cost. Not that it mattered to a goddess, a simple manipulation of the mist a few days after her daughter left and Amanda Curry obtained a very sizable bank account. Along with her expensive dresses Amphitrite also wore black pearl earrings that contrasted well with her pale skin, a single silver band on her left forearm identical to her daughter's and an intricate golden chain with a golden trident pendant that rested just above her breasts. Hiding or not, she was still a part of the Atlantean royal family and the crest was a connection to her children. This in itself started some rumors about her and Percy's relationship because they both wore tridents. Over all, she was happy with her new job.

Despite his initial fears to the opposite, Amphitrite was actually a very good nurse. It is not that he doubted her intelligence. He simply did not believe a mermaid would understand how to treat a sprained ankle, and that is ignoring that a goddess might not know how to treat a mortal in the first place.

One thing that Percy did notice was there was a sharp rise in the number of boys 'not feeling well' that visited the nurse's office. He had made a few jokes about it until she pointed out he had a similar problem. His class was almost entirely girls and he could not honestly say they were all interested in Greek. Both of them took their sudden popularity with the opposite sex in stride. If anything it was flattering if a little discomforting for Percy who disliked the extra attention. It made his days feel a little longer when he had to deal with so many people watching him. Still, it was only Friday of the third week since his promotion and the second week since Amphitrite started. Hopefully thing will calm down soon.

Perhaps as if taunting him with future complications, when he returned home with Amphitrite that afternoon, he found someone waiting for him in his apartment that he had never expected. His half-brother Triton. Instinctually Amphitrite grabbed Percy's hand and stood slightly behind him. She did not want to be recognized, she did not want to go back. Not now. She loved her son but she knew his priorities were to the kingdom first before even his own happiness. If it was needed he would bring her back with force no matter how much it might hurt him to attack his own mother. She sincerely hoped it would not come to that.

"Percy." The eldest prince of the oceans said. He stood slightly above Percy's 6' 2" height by 3 inches, and had broader shoulders with more pronounced muscles. His normally green skin was a dark brown reminiscent of Libyan domain, while his long black hair was tied in its usual pony tail. Compaired to Percy and Amphitrite's outrageously expensive outfits, he wore a pair of grey Billabong shorts and a white Polo. "May we speak privately?" Triton continued while motioning to the unknown woman behind him.

At first he was shocked that Triton did not recognize Amphitrite. Briares must have done one hell of a job on that band. "Um, yeah." He looked behind him. "Am… Amanda, this is my half-brother Triton." In the comfort of his own home he almost slipped up and called her by her real name.

"Hello." She greeted him nervously. "I am Amanda Curry. A friend of Percy."

Triton raised an eyebrow. Something was familiar about her. Instead of dwelling on it he took an opportunity to tease his little brother. "Is she the same friend that our cousin was telling _the whole family_ about last month? _"_

"Maybe." Percy said noncommittally with a slight blush. He knew that Hermes suspected something, and in his panic at the time he did nothing to dissuade the god of his assumptions. Although he was surprised that world had gotten to Atlantis, not that he shocked considering how much Hermes liked to gossip.

Triton would have loved to continue tormenting his brother, but he was here for important business. "Regardless," he said. "I need to discuss important _family_ business with you and it would be best if we did it privately."

The youngest prince nodded to the oldest prince before turning to the incognito goddess next to him. "I'm sorry about this. Do you mind buying some things for dinner tonight while I talk to him?" He figured it was best to get her out of the apartment as soon as possible before Triton could notice anything suspicious. She obviously understood because she quickly nodded and left.

"Have you seen my mother?" Triton asked the moment the door closed.

"Um no… why?" Percy felt bad about lying to his brother when he was obviously distraught.

"I have not seen her in weeks. I thought she had gone to visit one of our sisters, but none of them had seen her. I am getting worried. It is not like her to simply vanish."

"I am sorry, but I have not seen her. Besides, why would she come here she hates me."

Triton let out a deep sigh before responding. "She doesn't hate you as a person. She hates the circumstances of your birth. I am sure if you two ever spent some time together you would get along well."

"I never thought of it that way."

"Don't worry," the eldest prince continued. "One day you two will get along. Anyway please let me know if you hear anything about her. The last time someone of the royal family disappeared like this it did not turn out well."

Now Percy was curious. He had never heard about something bad happening to his family in the past. "What happened?"

Instead of answering, Triton left the entrance hall. Percy followed him to find his bother sitting on the couch in the main room.

"Sit." He motioned. "It is not a pleasant story."

"If it's bad you don't have to tell me. It's ok." Percy said quickly while sitting opposite his brother.

"No. You should know. Tell me. Are you aware that I am a father?" Triton asked.

"So I can be the cool uncle?"

"It is not that simple. Long ago I had three daughters. The eldest came centuries before the other two who were about the same age as each other. She is the one who I lost first."

This was all news to Percy. He did know Triton had any children. It had never been mentioned by anyone. A sense of dread filled his mind, if he was never told than they likely were dead.

Triton began talking again. "I believe you met her once. Do you remember Scylla?"

Percy's green eyes widened. "That…It… SHE is your daughter?"

The eldest prince nodded sadly. "She was born to a woman named Crataeis who was really Hecate in disguise. She and I hid our relationship because we were afraid that Helios would try to hurt her in jealously. She left him, but he never learned why. Anyway, Scylla was regarded as the most beautiful maiden of the sea. Few knew she was my daughter though. When a local sea god tried to rape her she fled to land where he could not go. I learned of this and killed him, but a woman named Circe was in love with him and she thought that Scylla killed him. In revenge she poisoned my daughter's pool she used to bathe. The poison turned her into that monster. Hecate tried to reverse the spell only to find out that Scylla's natural magic from her mother had mutated the curse. It was irreversible. Later it drove Hecate and me apart. Obviously I wanted revenge on Circe, but as you know Circe was Hecate's eldest daughter with her first husband. She could not admit that Scylla was her daughter without risking her own life, so she protected Circe from me. It took me centuries to forgive her, by then it was too late."

Percy was completely stunned. Unfortunately the only thing he could say must have made him sound like a total ass. "I thought Scylla was the child of Keto and Phorcys. That is what we were taught in camp."

For the first time in a very long time Triton looked angry. He clenched his fist before answering. "Father did not want the _blemish_ on our family. In history her origins were changed. Keto has so many monster children that no one noticed one more."

"I…I didn't know." Percy swallowed nervously. He really did not want to make things worse for his elder brother. Even if he knew firsthand what it was like to lose a daughter, he had to ask. "What happened to the other two?"

Tears formed in the older princes eyes. He had not talked about this in a very long time and only his father knew the truth about Scylla. "My youngest daughter was named Pallas. Her mother was Melinoe the crown princess of the Underworld, another secret romance of mine. When Pallas was still a child, I came across a young goddess named Athena who had been cast out of Olympus. I adopted her and two became close friends along with sisters. Melinoe also came to love the young goddess as her own daughter as well. Many years later Pallas was sparing with her sister when Zeus decided his daughter was worthy of him again. He interrupted the fight by appearing in a huge bolt of lightning. Both girls were so surprised that they lost focus. Athena slipped and her sword pierced Pallas' heart.

She created a magnificent statue in honor of her fallen sister and vowed never to raise a sword again. Obviously Zeus disapproved, he wanted Athena to be his general, so he removed her memories. Now when my middle daughter sees me it's only as the son of her rival. Someone she hates on principal.

The only consolidation is that the statue remained for centuries. Due to her close resemblance to Pallas, mortals began to confuse them. Eventually mortals began to call her Pallas Athena." Despite his tears Triton had a small smile. "Even if she does not know it. Her beloved sister is still with her today."

Percy was absolutely stunned. He had though Scylla was bad, but he could not even begin to imagine the feelings his brother must get whenever he visits Olympus and his only remaining daughter does not even know who he is to her. He had one last question. "What happened to Zeus?"

"Nothing. The bastard claims it was an accident. I doubt it though. Pallas was the living connection of the Seas to the Underworld. She was the granddaughter of both Poseidon and Hades. Her birth brought our kingdoms closer than ever before, and Zeus was threatened by it. He was afraid his brothers would overthrow him."

Sadly Percy expected that. Zeus was untouchable. Most of Olympus was either loyal to him or too afraid of him. He moved to sit next to his brother.

"I am sorry Triton."

"Do not worry my brother. It was a very long time ago. I hope you can understand why I am worried about my mother. In my lifetime when I lose track of someone I love, I lose them forever."

"I can promise you that she is safe." Percy told his brother sincerely.

This made Triton sit taller for a moment. "How could you..." He paused for a moment before a look of recognition crossed his face. "She is Amanda."

A small smile crossed the young prince's face. "I don't know what you are talking about."

Triton sighed. "All right, I do not understand what you are doing my brother, but I trust you. Our sister told me the same thing. I best be going then." He stood from the couch. "Fair warning; father has not realized she is gone yet. When he does he will send Delphin and he will be more difficult to convince than I am."

With that final warning Triton disappeared in a bright flash of light.

AN:

So this was a quick update. Its the product of taking my midterms early. I will do my best to have another update by next Friday.

Pm me if you have any questions...

Thanks!

· The suit mentioned cost 75k, the tie is 3K, and the shoes are 40k.

· Oscar De La Renta is one of the most prestigious brands for women's fashion, although Amphitrite's dress designs are made up unlike Percy's cloths which are real.

· In mythology Melinoe is the daughter of Persephone and Zeus who raped her in the form of Hades. I made her Hades' daughter in this. She is also closely related to Hecate in scripture as they are the only goddesses to appear in robes made of saffron and they have similar characteristics


	5. Strange Fealings

**This has been written for a few weeks now. My problem is that I have 3 distinct directions for the story from here and I am having trouble choosing. On another note I lost my notebook with all of the story lines so it was quite of a delay.** **Anyway I cut about 5 pages from this chapter so it is much shorter than I originally intended, but I wanted to get something out as a Christmas gift to all of you. My hope is to have the next chapter out by new years day.**

After leaving his brother, Triton could not help but feel bad. He had not seen Percy since the funeral three years ago. He knew first hand exactly what Percy was going through because he lost three daughters and two wives. Granted neither of his former wives were dead, he still had not seen them in millennia, and the Athena situation crushed his heart. It was hard to lose someone you loved. He missed them all dearly. The Crown Prince of the Sea, a Major God descended from some of the most powerful ocean deities to ever exist, had but one simple wish; for all six of them to be together as a family. He would trade his immortality, his powers, and his titles just to have them all back.

In the comfort of his own home he drowned his sorrows in alcohol while his memories swam before his eyes. He should have been there for Percy. He should have tried to help. The truth is he was afraid. He was afraid to relive the past, and he was afraid to see his brother in pain. They never got along before, Percy Jackson was living proof of Poseidon's infidelity to his beloved mother, but he still always had respect for the young man.

Shortly after Gia's defeat his father had given him an ultimatum; be nice to Percy or step aside from the crown. Triton gave Percy a chance and soon found that he enjoyed his youngest siblings company. In the following two years they had actually started to become close. Then he got the news of Annabeth and Zoey's deaths. It was as if all he could sudden feel the crushing weight of the entire oceans on his chest.

The next few days were nothing but a haze to him as he relived his past. Atlantis mourned. Across the kingdom citizens wept for the loss of their newborn princess. It was exactly like before. Only Pallas was publicly known as his daughter, only Pallas was given a proper funeral. Triton was trapped in his worst memories, past and present blurred. He saw his brother's wife clutching her baby to her chest as if both of them were sleeping. He heard Melinoe cry out Pallas' name. Poseidon engulfed Percy in a hug. Or did he hug him? Who exactly had died? The eldest prince did not know anymore. Did he say good bye to his sister-in-law or to his daughter? He wasn't strong enough. No one saw him leave early. No one heard him cry that night.

Now, as he sat alone in his room, Triton could only feel guilt. He had left his brother alone because he was a coward. When he told Percy his story a few hours ago he could not stand the look in his eyes. He knew Percy understood, that he forgave him, but he did not deserve it. In a way he envied his brother, he was glad Percy was mortal. Someday he would die and be reunited with his loved ones. He was glad that Percy would never know the curse of immortality. He promised himself that he would celebrate when his brother died. He would be happy and smile after, because that he knew that day Percy would finally get to hold his daughter and kiss his wife in Elysium. Of course he would miss him, but he would not let his own selfish desire to be with his brother separate that same brother from his family. For now though, he would be a better brother than he had before. He resolved to trust Percy with his mother. She was safe and, from the brief meeting he had with her, happy. Whatever it was, he trusted them. Triton finished his drink in one large gulp before closing his eyes to fight his tears.

Back in New York, the younger prince was having similar issues as the older prince. Percy was lost in his own memories as well. Most of what Triton had told him was a shock. He had no idea his brother had once had a family. Although he had four immortal siblings, he had never thought about whether they had families or not. Well he technically had over a dozen more, but he had only four that he thought of as siblings. It was just too weird to think of having two brothers that were horses. And they were not ever the weirdest, his brother Nauplius was a minor god of sailing who had a fondness for possessing the figureheads of ships; most figureheads were naked women. Percy could only imagine how a crew would react to their female figurehead talking to them in a male voice. That defiantly counted as weird.

Percy shook his head, causing his black hair to stick up, in order to clear it from thoughts about the ridiculous number of half siblings he had. He focused once again on his core siblings. The ones directly recognized as part of the royal family; Triton, Kym, Thesi, and Rhode. He had just found out that Triton had kids. He knew that Kym considered herself the unofficial fourth virgin goddess, and that Thesi had only an adopted son named Eumolpus, who was actually their brother. He never even asked Rhode. Although, in his defense, the first and only time he met her was at Annabeth and Zoey's funeral, so he was in no state to discuss family. The only reason he knew about Eumolpus was because he came with his adoptive mother to the funeral as well.

His thoughts made Percy realize that he had also not been a very good brother either. He resolved to try to learn more about his two other sisters. Especially after how much he enjoyed Kym's company.

The problem was that for as long as his stepmother was hiding with him, he had no idea if it was safe to IM them. If he was being honest Percy was worried about that. It was only a matter of time before someone found Amphitrite and, while he was relatively confident his father would not be too harsh on him, he might be very harsh on his 'former' wife.

Percy was confused over his own personal feelings for his step-mother. The past month or so had done much to change his opinion of her. In the past whenever he visited Atlantis, she was often the bitter Queen that made scathing remarks to him. Now she was so different, he felt that he actually enjoyed her company. For the first time in years he was smiling on a daily basis and it was not forced.

He was conflicted. Amphitrite was his step-mother, his father wife, but he could not deny that he was attracted to her. She was gorgeous like every other goddess he had met and her very presence made him happy. It was how he used to feel around Annabeth when she was still alive, something he had long though he would not experience again. Still, he could not admit it. He knew she was still hurting from Poseidon's betrayal and he could not take advantage of her like that.

Percy simply decided that it was nothing more than infatuation. He had been single for many years now and having a beautiful woman around him was likely the cause. He would think to himself. 'In a few weeks she will leave. She has no reason to stay hear indefinably. After she is gone these weird feelings will leave too.' Even if it hurt to think of his daily life without her, he would have to get used to it.

These thoughts plagued Percy's mind for the rest of the night. When Amphitrite, or rather Amanda, returned they had a pleasant dinner together. After dinner he told her what Triton had told him and she was apoplectic. Apparently she did not know that Scylla was her granddaughter. If Percy had not been there to calm her down parts of Manhattan might have been underwater and she would have most certainly been discovered. He opened a nice bottle of Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui, a sparkling Rose Wine that was sweetened with raspberries. While not particularly expensive, the brachetto grapes used were the very same used in the wine that both Marc Antony and Julius Cesar gave to Cleopatra, so it gave the wine a sense of historical importance. He also knew that Amphitrite enjoyed semi-sweet wines so, after a glass or two, she had finally calmed down completely. The two of them settled on the couch and watched an old movie together.

Within an hour of starting the movie she had fallen asleep with her resting on Percy's shoulder. He carefully carried her bridal style to the guest room she had insisted she move into after Kym left freeing up his own room for himself. He tucked her into bed and for a moment was almost overcome with the urge to kiss her forehead. She looked so peaceful sleeping, so incredibly beautiful. Like a resting angel. He quickly left the room to avoid that dangerous train of thought.

Percy had no idea where that idea came from. He made his way into his own room and got prepared for bed the whole time thinking about the woman in the other room. He let out a deep sigh, things were starting to get complicated. He had not been this confused since that time he got drunk with Artemis and they ended up sharing a passionate kiss. As he closed his eyes alone in his own bed he couldn't help but think it would be nice if Amphitrite was sleeping next to him.

 **AN:**

 **·** **As a helpful note most of my mythology comes from PJO combined with the** ** _Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus_** **which is the combined anthology of almost all Greek myths written in the first century AD. Along with my own little twists**

 **·** **Poseidon has well over 100 know children. I gave up counting at 65 and I was only on the letter I. He also has 81 named consorts. One of who was his daughter Rhode**

 **·** **There were two men named Nauplius several centuries apart (one in the Trojan War and one as an Argonaut), however it has been suggested in the** ** _Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus_** **that they were the same son of Poseidon with an extremely long lifespan. I took that and made him a minor god of sailing, which he is credited as inventing in original myth.**

 **·** **Eumolpus was the son of Khione after Poseidon raped her. She was afraid of her father Boreas so she threw the newborn into the ocean. Poseidon brought the baby to Benthesikyme and told her to raise it.**

 **·** **Benthesikyme technically had two daughters but neither of them were given names. They were mentioned in only one sentence of the** ** _Bibliotheca_** **that Eumolpus was given one to marry but either raped or tried to rape the other. I removed them because it's way too vague and also removed her husband who is mentioned by name, but has no other information besides his name and ethnicity.**

 **·** **Riordan did a very good job cleaning up the myths for kids, but the truth is most of them are extremely dark and a huge number of the women are raped at least once.**

 **·** **Also since most of the men in Myths are not exactly kind to women, there will be at least a couple lesbian pairs later on. If that offends you I am sorry. On another note this story is not to bash men, I am one, it's just that the ancient Greeks did not have very high views of women and it is reflected in their mythology very often the woman who is victimized is punished for it; Danaë was impregnated unwillingly by Zeus and then cast into the sea by her husband**

 **·** **Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui is a phenomenal wine. While I may be slightly biased because my parents know the owner, it still is my favorite. The part about Antony, Caesar, and Cleopatra is a real legend about that region.**

 **A quick apology to IshallReadThemAll: the section that I told you that would be in this chapter was the scene that I cut among others. I shifted it so that the reasoning behind the gods actions will be after posiden finds our about his wife, not before...**

 **Finally thanks for reading, even if it is incredibly short this time. PM me with any questions you may have and have a Merry Christmas along with a Happy Hanukkah a Nice Kwanzaa and a Festive St. John's Day!**


	6. Long Day

**I understand it has been a while since my last update. I'm sorry about that. I recently lost my job and ive been trying (and failing) to get a new one... So originally I was going to post this in sections of 4 or 5 chapters, but since it all takes place in a single day I decided to keep it as one super long chapter. This chapter contains the end of the first arc and some hints of the next major arc. Next Chapter will fill in some blanks from this and a few previous chapters including something I was going to leave out. Fair warning a certain part of the chapter has a character describe her rape. I tried not to include too many details but it may still be disturbing to some people. it will be obvious when it occurs though. Now on to the story:**

The City of Atlantis was something of a misnomer, there were actually three cities that have been called that. The first was the original City of Atlantis which was once the seat of power for the Titans Oceanus and Tethys long before the gods existed. Despite its neutrality during the war between Titans and Gods, it was ultimately destroyed by the onslaught of sea monsters released by both sides. Second was the new City of Atlantis, built upon the ruins of the first city. It sat as the capitol of the Kingdom of Atlantis and was ruled by the Royal Family headed by King Poseidon.

The third city to be called Atlantis was a mortal city built on an island several dozen miles beyond the Pillars of Hercules. That city was the one later written about by Plato. Originally a city of sailors and pirates that worshiped Poseidon and named their settlement in honor of his kingdom. It soon became a popular island among wealthy merchants and the influx of copious amounts of money led to it becoming the leader of technology and culture. Within several centuries, this mortal version of Atlantis had developed into the most powerful naval empire in the world attracting demigods of sea deities worldwide.

When the city was struck by disaster, only the intervention of sea deities from various pantheons managed to save it from complete destruction. It became detached from the earth below and floated across the world's ocean, slowly circling the globe with the currents. Because of the inter-pantheon effort to save it, the island became the only place in the world where the laws of pantheon separation where relaxed and deities and demi-deities of all kinds lived together. Now named Pangaea, the free floating island hosts more than 12 million citizens and acts as a neutral ground between all pantheons.

It was on this Island that two rival kings of the largest nations in the Atlantic Ocean met together. In an opulent room the two men sat together discussing the future of their kingdoms. One ones side Poseidon sat dressed in an expensive looking black suit. His short black hair and beard were immaculately trimmed while his face was marred by a deep frown that even reached his green eyes. He held himself upright with his hands folded on the table before him, while he waited for his counterpart to speak.

Across from the Greek Sea King was another man dressed in a fine black suit. His name was Aegir, known as the King of Hlesey. He was a rather large man, slightly over eight feet tall, befitting his status as a Sjorisar or Sea-Giant. His skin was a dark blue hue, perfectly complementing his lighter blue tinted eyes, with silver scales similar to a fish on either side of his face. Although it could not be seen below his suit, he also had scales along his fore arms and legs. Much like his counterpart he also had black hair and a thick beard along with a deep frown on his face.

Both men were unhappy at the moment, but for very different reasons. Poseidon was upset because his wife ran away again. Not that he would normally care, she always came back on her own or with force if need be. No, what made him angry was after this meeting they were supposed to have dinner with Aegir and his wife Ran. She knew that, even if she didn't know the exact reason behind the meeting, and he expected her to be back from wherever place she ran off to this time, before the dinner. Now he had to deal with the embarrassment of her absence. He already sent Delphin to retrieve her from whatever hole she buried herself in, and he told him not to be kind about it. When she returned he would make sure she was punished severely.

On the other side of the table from the King of Atlantis, the King of Hlesey's frown was evident for a completely opposite reason. While Poseidon was angry at a woman, Aegir was angry at himself because of a woman, or rather a girl. His own little girl, and he was nothing if not protective of his daughters. He would singlehandedly face the armies of Asgard, Olympus, and even Vaikuntha just to defend his daughters happiness. Under normal circumstances he would never even consider a deal like this, he felt beyond guilty, but it was for the best of the kingdom.

Tensions between both kingdoms had increased dramatically in the past few years. Ever since that debacle the Greeks and Romans had with one of their core deities. Thousands of rouge sea monster were released from whatever bonds they were held in, and crossed into Hlesey's borders. Dozens of small towns within the North Atlantic Kingdom were attacked, killing many citizens in the process. Aegir had been inundated with requests from his generals to take action against Atlantis in retaliation for their losses. He could understand their call for revenge, but he refused to plunge his entire kingdom into a bloody war and potentially bring the entire Norse Pantheon against the Greek/Roman Pantheon costing countless millions of lives. Loath as he was to admit it, this was the best possible way to form a union between Hlesey and Atlantis.

Now Aegir was caught between anger at himself and pride in his youngest daughter. He was mad that this was an option in the first place because it went against his fatherly instincts, something someone with ten daughters had in abundance. Conversely, he was abundantly proud of young Catherine for persuading him to follow through with this contact for the sake of the people of Hlesey. With a deep sigh his frown increased as he spoke two simple words.

"I agree."

Almost six months had passed since the goddess of salt water had unexpectedly entered his life. Despite the somewhat awkward early days, Percy was genially happy to have the woman around. Truthfully he had been isolating a lot himself since he lost his family. He almost never spoke to any of his friends and only occasionally visited his mother, so Amphitrite's presence was admittedly a good influence on him. Part of him would always miss the ones he lost, but now he could honestly say that he was cheerful once again.

The two of them had also grown rather close in that time. They had continued with their daily routine along with doing many things together around the city. Deep down a little part of Percy wondered if they could be considered a couple now. They went out together every weekend, they cooked and cleaned together, they even worked together. At night when they watched movies on the couch they found themselves in each other's embrace. In the moments he found himself alone he missed her.

Still they had an unspoken rule to never move too far. They cuddled during movies but never slept together. There were no kisses. No mention of feelings. No illicit touches. It made him feel confused over their situation. Were they just friends? Just family? Or was there something more? The biggest question that hung over him was; did he want more? It was always so hard to answer.

She was there for him. When Christmas came around instead of staying alone in his apartment like last year, Amphitrite forced Percy to go to his mother's house. The five of them spent a wonderful day together that managed to take his mind off the fact this was only his second Christmas without his deceased love. Surprisingly Amphitrite had gotten along rather well with his mother, who was her husband's former mistress. Apparently Poseidon had never told Sally he was married until she became pregnant, so Amphitrite did not hold a grudge on the woman. That was a Christmas he would never forget thanks to the wonderful sea goddess.

They spent New Year's Eve on his balcony watching fireworks in the distance. He stood behind the Amphitrite with his arms wrapped around her waist. January fifth he cooked Amphitrite a huge meal of traditional Greek recipes to surprise her for the Feast of the Sea and made sure that she knew they were celebrating her rather than Poseidon. It was something similar to an immortal birthday party for her since the many changing calendar styles caused her to lose track of the actual day. On Martin Luther King Jr. day he explained the significance of the holiday to her and brought her to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibit on African American art.

In February Percy showed her the movie Groundhog Day on the silly holiday which made her laugh all night. On Valentine's Day she was patient with his poor mood which improved just from her very presence. As hard as it was for him to admit to himself, by the end of February he knew that he was falling for her. It was not until the second Friday in March that their tranquility was broken.

The day started normal enough, he woke up around 5 am like he always did on a Friday morning. He shut off his alarm and crawled out of his warm bed. Thirty minutes later he had showered and dressed in his black dress pants along with a pair of black socks and a simple white undershirt. After leaving his room he found Amphitrite in her natural form humming a tune while preparing breakfast for the two of them.

"Good morning Percy." She said to him with a bright smile that made his heart flutter.

"Morning Amphitrite, what's got you so happy?" Percy asked her.

Before responding the gorgeous red haired goddess placed two plates, each with half of the vegetable omelet she just cooked on them, onto the kitchen table where the two of them ate breakfast every morning. She sat down across from him and took a few bites before answering her housemate's previous question.

"Your father has an important meeting today. Although I never bothered to ask what it's for, he is going to be embarrassed when I'm not there for the dinner after. He probably expects me to be back by then, but I refuse to go crawling back to him just because he demands I be there." Even though she said it with a smile, Percy could not help but shiver internally at her tone.

"That's quite vindictive of you." He told her.

She gave him a harsh look. "Possibly, but I have spent nine thousand years as the 'good wife' and I think I am allowed to take some pleasure in making that man look like a fool. Besides, I abdicated my position, so technically there is no queen of Atlantis right now anyway."

"Maybe," He responded carefully not to upset her. "But I'm just worried, and I don't want anything to happen to you if he gets really upset."

She gave him a genuine smile and took his hand, intertwining their fingers together. "Let us move past this unpleasantness. You and I both know that I cannot hide from him forever. It is likely that my absence today will cause him to send someone after me, if he has not already. This magic band that you gave me will not hide me from someone actively searching for me. So please," she squeezed his hand "do not be unhappy. Just promise me you will let them take me. I don't want you to get hurt because of me."

Percy could not trust himself to speak, it was as if she had resigned herself to whatever horrible punishment she would receive. He simply nodded and squeezed her hand back. The two of them spent the rest of their meal in silence, although neither released the others had. After they had finished Percy cleaned the dishes while Amphitrite went to her room to change out of her pajamas and into her dress for work.

Forty five minutes after the two finished eating the dishes were done and Percy had put his collared shirt. He had just completed tying his tie when Amphitrite, as Amanda, emerged from her room. She wore a navy blue pencil skirt that ended just above her knees along with a white button down shirt with slight frills around the waist and cuffs. The top two buttons were undone exposing a modest amount of cleavage. Finalizing the outfit was an open navy jacket that ended several inches short of her midriff. Although she had worn an expensive formal dress on her first few days, she settled on this look shortly after deciding that it was more appropriate for a school nurse while still no less expensive. The adult demigod had to bite his tongue to stop himself from commenting on just how beautiful she looked. Instead he called for his private elevator to take them to the garage below.

The real problems of the day started just after 1pm during his second class. Percy's class had nine students, five girls and four boys. It was smaller than the normal fifteen students of other classes but the class was never very popular until he took over. Unlike his earlier class that started at 10am, this class was not small enough for the faculty to offer students to transfer into it once he became the teacher. That meant that this class had a more even spilt between genders than his other class that was entirely female. Interestingly enough this class had three demigod students. Fist was Ashley, the captain of the schools swim team, and her younger brother Thomas. They had the same mother but different fathers. Her father was Hermes while his was Apollo, Percy decided it was best not to ask about that one. Lastly was Samantha who was a daughter of Cocytus and Ashley's best friend.

Observing his class reminded him of his early days at Goodie, back while he was still the gym teacher. After he first arrived Percy did his best to get to know all of his students. Even he would admit a slight bias when it came to the five demigod and two clear sighted mortals that attended the school. He had especially gotten to know Ashley and James, the captains of the girls and boys swim teams that he coached, and children of Hermes and Nike respectively.

It was through Ashley that he met Samantha. She was an interesting case because of her unusually pale skin and violet colored eyes, she was bullied relentlessly throughout her early years at school and became very withdrawn. She came to Goodie as a sophomore and was partnered early on with Ashley for some project and the two became inseparable in the past three years. Or at least that is what he was told by them, not that he had any reason to doubt their word.

Only a few days after Percy fist became the gym teacher, which was slightly under 8 months ago, he was approached by Ashley to help her friend. She had obviously recognized Percy and knew all of his past feats, but more importantly what his powers were. The teenager had asked him to train her close friend how to use her water powers. Ashley hoped that if she was able to get more confidence with her abilities, than Samantha might start to open up a little more.

Percy was quick to agree and even more so after he met the timid girl. At first it was difficult, she continuously apologized over small infractions and was extremely nervous around him. Percy was very patient with her. Being her age with very little control over her powers must have made her feel very self-conscious. She was a fast learner though and within a few weeks of practice every weekend, she had gotten basic control over her hydrokinesis.

He learned from her, much to his surprise, that she was a daughter of the river goddess Cocytus. He did not even know that the river even had human body, let alone one that would be interested in mortals. Luckily Percy had not seen his old friend Leo in a few years, not since he moved to Europe, because he just knew his wise cracking friend would try to make some joke about how Percy had been inside the girl's mother. Which was true, in only the most technical of terms, since Percy had indeed swam in the waters of the Cocytus River, and that was part of the goddess's body in a metaphysical sense. Still, he felt better off without any vaguely sexual innuendos that would have made the poor girl feel even more awkward.

His internal musings were interrupted by a knock on the classroom door. Percy crossed the room and stepped into the hallway, closing the door behind him. Disturbing a class in session was very rare outside of emergencies so it also brought the attention of all of the students as well. They unanimously and silently decided that whatever potential gossip material could stem from the interruption was far more interesting than translating excerpts from the Odysseys into English. Within moments of their teachers exit, the entire class had broken out into excited whispers speculating the cause of the mysterious interruption.

In the hallway across stood five people. On one side with his back to the classroom door was Percy quietly observing the other three men. The first was a large bald man with gray skin and a long bottle shaped nose that reminded the sea prince of a porpoise. Directly flanking the first man were two similarly bald men with noticeably sharp teeth reminiscent of sharks. As if their more obvious features were not enough of a clue that they were from his father's court, they each wore fine black suites with twin crossed tridents stitched in silver thread over their hearts. He also recognized the silver rings worn on the middle finger of the two apparent guards as Atlantean Silver weapons. They were used when guards needed to be somewhere it was nessecarly for them to be armed without calling attention to themselves. He also noticed a slight ethereal glow emanating from the suites revealing they were magically enhanced.

It was the fifth person that drew his attention the moment he stepped into the hall. Standing between the two guards, with one arm being held by each, was Amphitrite. Her armband had been removed at some point revealing her natural form as she stared dejectedly at her shoes. Physically she seemed fine other than a slight redness forming on her upper arms around where the guards held her tightly. Rather it was her faraway look that bothered the young man, it was as if she had simply given up and resigned herself to whatever fate lay before her. It was a very harsh comparison to the laughing beauty she had been only a few hours before.

"Delphin I presume." Percy said, barely containing the growl that threatened to escape his throat.

The porpoise man simply nodded without a word. His narrowed eyes were locked on the eyes of the prince. Several minutes of tense silence passed before anyone spoke. Without breaking eye contact Delphin withdrew an envelope from his jacket pocket.

"A letter from his majesty to be delivered posthaste to his youngest son." He stated with all of the formality of the high ranking noble he was.

The 22 year old demigod could not help but feel like a child as he snatched the letter from the dolphin lord's outstretched hand. He knew there was some kind of formal speech he should say in response but Percy was in no mood to pretend he liked the man. Instead he stuffed the letter into his jacket pocket and continued to glare at Delphin while unconsciously moving slightly onto the balls of his feet. His entire body was tense as he ran through his mind how fast he could slay all three men and free their prisoner.

He could leap directly at Delphin, using his shoulder to knock him away. Then use that same momentum to drive Riptide into the gut of the left guard. The problem is by that time the final guard would have a chance to react. Maybe if he used his trident he could stab the first guard and then swing it into the other man's head using the counterbalance at the end as a club. But then Delphin would be able to grab him from behind. There was also the possibility of using his powers to burst to sprinkler pipes along the ceiling and then impaling the men on water spears. No a sudden movement from either guard could bring Amphitrite into the path of the spears instead. She was the biggest problem. Without worrying for her safety, Percy could easily win the fight with the three men. Especially since none of them were probably accustomed to fighting on land with legs. However every plan he came up with placed too much danger on the woman being held.

Delphin's high pitched voice broke through Percy's internal debate. "It would seem that we also discovered the location of our missing queen as well. Hiding in the very school you work in. A strange coincidence don't you agree? However I am sure you, as a prince, would not knowingly harbor a fugitive of the Kingdom. That would be considered treason." He gave Percy a cruel smile as if daring him to say something incriminating

Before the young prince could open his mouth to speak another voice spoke. "He did not know. No one did. I thought you would never come here and I pretended to be a mortal. Percy and I spoke while I was here but he never knew I was a goddess."

Said man attempted to speak only to be interrupted by Amphitrite once again. This time it was within his own mind. 'Hush Percy. Do not speak, I am at fault here. I will not allow you to suffer for my transgressions.'

'You can't. Dad might hurt you. Please don't do this.' He begged.

'I am sorry. I really enjoyed our time together. Remember what we spoke about this morning, you must let me go.' She told him kindly.

Her body language did not betray that they were speaking. She continued to look down at the floor. Her long red hair cascaded down her back while her bangs obscured her right eye and part of her luscious red lips. In the single exposed blue eye there was a slight golden sparkle struggling vainly to escape. She would not let it. She could not shed a tear, not while Delphin was suspicious already.

Although Delphin was unconvinced, this was a decision for his king. He took Percy's continued silence as an answer itself. His duty was done anyway. Two actually. He had come with his personal guard to deliver an important letter that could not be trusted with a simple currier, and he had been fantastically lucky to also find a wanted fugitive at the same time. Earlier that very day his king had displaced him with the letter and orders to begin searching for Amphitrite immediately after. He was told to bring her back alive by any means nessecarly. Unfortunately she surrendered quickly, he was rather looking forward to making her scream like last time.

Regardless the dolphin lord decided it was time to leave. Without another word to the insolent prince her turned on his heal and strode towards the exit. Both guards followed along with their prisoner between them.

Percy was left standing alone. He had to fight every instinct he had not to rush after them sword drawn. He stared at the back of the woman being dragged away. His hands were gripped so tightly that the knuckles had turned white and his nails had dug into his skin drawing small trickles of blood from his right palm whereas his left was protected by the now crumpled letter.

One last silent message was sent to him, even if she did not turn to look at him. 'You have made my dream come true.' And then she was gone. All four of the Atlanteans disappeared in a blinding flash of light. Percy had not felt so alone in years. He had to take a few deep breaths to chase away his own tears.

After several minutes he had regained control of his emotions enough to open the now crumpled letter. All he needed was to read the title to feel himself go blind with rage. He did not even bother to read the rest of the lengthy document.

 _Official copy of the Formal Alliance between Atlantis and Hlesey through means of the marital union of Second Prince Perseus Jackson of Atlantis and Eighth Princess Catherine d'Orleans of Hlesey._

He did greatly enjoy tearing the paper into as many tiny pieces he could before dumping the scraps into a nearby trashcan. He harshly pulled the classroom door open not caring that it slammed loudly against the wall.

"Ashley!" He snapped, causing the dark haired senior to jump in her seat. "I have just been informed of a family emergency. You are in charge for the next 20 minutes, then I want you to go to Mr. Blofis and tell him I had to leave early because of a crisis."

Without waiting for a response, Percy grabbed his bag and quickly left his classroom. He would explain everything to Paul later. Right now he needed to be alone. He made his way outside to his car as fast as possible. Doing his best to ignore the lingering scent of perfume clinging to the cream white leather upholstery, he gunned the engine and pealed out of the parking lot.

A large part of the reason he left the school was because his control over his power was slipping. The sunny day was had been replaced by a heavy downpour that was getting dangerously close to hurricane strength. That doesn't even include the fact he probably just put a decade's worth of stress on the schools pipes in a matter of seconds. Over all it was best for everyone that he left to cool down, so he drove west. Away from the ocean.

Percy drove for hours. He didn't have any specific location in mind beyond putting space between him and the ocean. Even if the distance did not actually matter in the slightest to a god it still made him feel a little better in a metaphysical sense.

As he drove he soon noticed that his was the only car on the road. He had no idea where he was either. The road was paved, that was a good sign, but it was also surrounded by trees so he could see any major landmarks to help him figure out where he was. To make matters worse he was low on gas. When he left the tank was full and now there was only about a quarter left. Being lost in a forest with no gas was not exactly his idea of a fun Friday night. On the bright side the tropical storm that had been chasing him all afternoon had faded at some point without him noticing. Still he hoped that there would be some signs of civilization soon.

A few miles later he noticed a strangely familiar sign next to a gravel road. His curiosity piqued he turned down the side road, driving another half a mile before coming upon a small clearing in the woods. On the far side of the clearing was a small brown wooden building that could not have been more than one or two rooms. On the front of the building was an overgrown sign missing some of the letters reading 'nty Em's Garden Gn Empor um'. All around the clearing were dozens of various stone sculptures. Carefully steering around a group dear sculptures near the entrance to the clearing, Percy parked his blue Maserati and turned off the powerful engine.

The black haired hero stepped from his car slowly while cautiously scanning the area for any movement. At the slightest hint of danger, it would only take a quick flick of the wrist to summon his Atlantian Silver trident. Normally he felt more comfortable with his Celestial Bronze xiphos called Riptide, however in this situation the extra four feet of range was required. He crouched slightly as he moved closer to the building while using the many statues as cover.

A loud pinging noise echoed across the clearing causing Percy to jump. He twisted around summoning his trident and he got into a battle position. Holding himself as still as possible he listened carefully for any further sounds. As more high pitched pinging sounds filled the area, he realized the sounds reminded him of the forges back at camp. It was like metal hitting metal. He crept around the house following the sounds.

Behind the small building was a cloaked figure slightly hunched over a half chiseled marble slab. Part of the large stone had already been carved into the front half of a howling wolf while the figure worked on the back half that was still mostly a block of solid white stone. Wrapped completely around the large stone and extending from the figures lower back was a 16 foot long black and grey striped snake tale. Without even turning to face him, or even pausing in its work, the figure spoke to him in a feminine voice with a Middle Eastern accent.

"Come to kill me again Perseus Jackson?"

If anything Percy was confused and his response proved it. "Um. Not exactly, I mean I just saw the sign driving by. I didn't even know you were back from, well you know…" Despite the strangeness of the situation Percy could not help but feel awkward insouciantly talking to someone he had decapitated at the age of 12.

"From the dead? Yes well that is something you get used to as a monster. Every time I die I get to come back and be killed again." She went back to her work, continuously hammering her chisel against the stone.

"You're not going to attack me?" he asked. The last thing he wanted to do was let his guard down and be attacked by an extremely dangerous foe.

Once again she responded without turning to face him. "Why? I have no armor or sword, my bow is over there," gesturing with her right hand towards a small table behind Percy. "I am far too large to catch you unaware, and you are most certainly not stupid enough to enter a staring contest with me. Whereas you have both you extraordinary powers and skills along with a deadly weapon long enough that I cannot reach you my natural claws. Your advantage is enough that attacking you could be considered suicide. This way if I leave you alone, maybe you will do the same."

Her nonchalant attitude was quite jarring from his first impression years ago. Then she was seductive and violent, trying to convince him to stay with her forever while also being attempting to kill him and his friends at the time. Deeply confused he sat down on a nearby stump with his trident resting across his lap. "So… you sculpt?" He said almost cringing internally at the thin excuse for casual conversation.

Medusa just sighed and slumped her shoulders slightly in exasperation. Still continuing her meticulous work she responded. "It helps to pass the time. Very few of my statues were actually alive at one point."

Finally turning away from the marble block she looked directly at him. Percy was already on his feet ready to attack while using the reflection on the polished silver of his trident as a mirror to view from. He then noticed that she was wearing a thick set of dark glasses obscuring her eyes completely. Taking a moment to be sure her actions were nonthreatening, he sat back down onto the stump, although still holding his trident at the ready.

Locking her eyes with his, or rather her opaque lenses with his eyes she spoke to him seriously for the first time so far that night. "Why are you here son of Poseidon?"

The black haired prince collapsed once again onto the stump he was formally sitting on. He placed face into his hands with a deep sigh. "I don't really know. I needed to get as far from the ocean as I could and I just saw the sign and well…"

He trailed off unsure of what exactly to say. To be perfectly honest he had no idea why he came there. Curiosity perhaps, or maybe a lingering guilt. He could not be sure. He did not even know why he was letting his guard down around this incredibly dangerous monster.

"And why were you running away?" Medusa's voice pulled him out of his musings.

Percy looked up from his hands and realized how pathetic he must look. Here he was, the greatest hero that ever lived according to others, wallowing in his own pity while being comforted by a monster for gods' sake. Or at least he thought she was trying to comfort him, he was completely at a loss for her motives. Why did she even care? He wondered.

"It's my father." He said meekly.

Although he could not see it because he was looking at the ground, her lips pressed together in the beginning of a frown. She herself was unsure why she was being helpful to the young hero, or at least young compared to her several thousand year age. It's not like she had fond memories for him, and she despised his father, but she could not help but feel sorry for the young man. He looked so downtrodden, so helpless and weak. Now that she thought of it, she probably could kill him easily now. She was close enough that a quick slash of her razor sharp claws would sever his jugular before he could even react. He wasn't even looking at her, it would be simple for her. Medusa flexed her fingers, the long claws only inches from his throat, but could not bring herself to strike.

He looked so much like the man that destroyed her life. The man who destroyed her precious sisters' lives. The man who had destroyed the lives of so many women before and after her. However, this young man, who so greatly resembled his father in many ways, was also very different from that man. From what little she knew about him, he was kind, and loyal to a fault. He would gladly sacrifice his own life to protect the ones he loved. He was a man who was regarded as the greatest demi-god in history. Someone who almost singlehandedly defeated both a Titan King and the primordial of the earth itself. And yet, he still insisted that he could not do it alone, that his friends were more important than him. He was a man who had refused godhood twice, including becoming an Olympian himself, for the betterment of others. She could not even blame him for killing her, ultimately it was self-defense as she had attacked him first.

Despite his close proximity she simply could not kill him. Even if doing so would be a semblance of revenge against the man that harmed her. Maybe, deep down, she knew that she could not blame the son for the sins of the father. Or, more likely she realized that turning that bastard's favorite son against him might be more of a punishment than killing the boy. Although, just by looking at his state, she may not have to try very hard.

"What did that _man_ do?" she asked trying very hard not to let too much anger sip into her voice at calling that thing a man.

Percy made no indication of hearing her icy tone. Instead he responded to her question. "When I was young I never knew my father. My mom always told me he was a great man and that he offered her the world. As a little kid I used to dream about what kind of person my dad was. Once I finally met him… Well he wasn't what I expected, but he was still my father and I knew he cared about me."

He paused for a moment, and instead of pressing the young man, Medusa waited for him to continue.

"In these past few months I've been learning more about him. Bad things. Like abusing his wife and selling his daughter… It's just so different than the man I thought he was." His shoulders slumped further.

The viper haired woman slithered a little closer to him. She placed the tip of one of her long claws on the edge of his chin causing him to shiver slightly at their cold metallic feeling. With an extremely small amount of force, so as to not draw any blood, she turned his chin so that they were looking at one another.

"Do you know why I hate that man?" She asked him.

Percy was unaware exactly what she wanted him to say. He hoped that he would not upset her with his answer, especially when her extremely sharp claw was a fraction of an inch from his throat. "Because you're his ex-girlfriend?"

Medusa released her grip and moved back. She had to suppress the frown that was blossoming across her red lips. "You really don't know how I became like this?" she said while flourishing one of her hands across her half woman half snake body.

Percy could not help the small blush that dusted his cheeks. Her tone reminded him so much of a teacher scolding him for not doing his homework. He gave her a sheepish smile before tentatively responding.

"I mean, erm. Your mother is Keto right? I just thought you were born like that. My dad has had sex with horses and other things so I just kinda thought. You know…" He trailed off at the end as her frown became more pronounced. For a second he was afraid she was going to slap him. With those sharp claws of hers, a slap was something he defiantly wanted to avoid.

Medusa took a very deep slow breath. "I am not sure if I should feel complemented that you think I am capable of seducing a man with my current appearance or insulted over what you said about my mother. First of all; no. I was not born like this. Second, I believe you have met my mother. What did she look like?"

The black haired prince was silent for a minute while he thought back to his crazy visit to the Atlanta Aquarium several years ago. "Well," he began. "She looked like cute nerdy schoolgirl. Frizzy hair, braces, and glasses. Plus she was really energetic too. I actually thought she was really nice until she showed us some of her prisoners on display. After we escaped and set those poor creatures free she sent Shrimpzilla after us."

For a second Medusa had a puzzled expression before answering. "You mean Skolopendra. He, Landon, Echnida, the Graeae and many other sea monsters were actually hatched from eggs that my mother gave birth to. They are naturally monsters. Father proved centuries before us that he could have a normal child with some random nymph that when our half-sister Thoosa was born. However mother was rather upset all of her children were monsters despite how much she liked them. At least until she also gave live birth to myself and my two sisters. We are triplets and our birth finaly proved that Keto was not only capable of spawning monsters. It also helped that our beauty was compared to many of the Olympian goddess which gave her much pride in us. Anyway when we were young the three of us spent much time on the shore. One day we were attacked by several children of Aries looking for virgin flesh to abuse. The Olympians barely tolerated us as it was because of our parents and siblings so defending ourselves would have surly led to our deaths from Aries himself.

I still do not know why she appeared, but Lady Athena arrived and slew all of the men before they could do more than strip us. She offered us safety from retaliation in exchange for becoming the priestesses of a temple of hers. We graciously accepted and swore ourselves to her. All three of us took vows of chastity as well, not that it was difficult to abstain from men after our traumatic experience. She took us to her beautiful marble temple on a small island now called Falkonera where we were the only people on the entire island. She told us it was a private temple where she rested when outside of Olympus that only she knew about.

For the next three centuries my sisters and I lived there, occasionally with our Lady as well. The only times we left were to visit our parents every few decades. We were happy and with our strong connection to the sea we spent much of our time on the beach or in the shallows. On the eve of the summer solstice one year, I was fishing for while my sisters were collecting herbs on the other side of the island. Somehow Poseidon had found the hidden island and he wanted me because I was at the time considered among the most beautiful daughters of the sea." The snake woman paused to regain her composure.

From underneath the dark glasses bitter tears struggled to escape. "I rejected him. I told him very clearly that I was not interested and that my virginity was protected by Athena herself. He tried to grab me but I ran for the temple. Inside I prayed for my Lady to help me. I knelt before the obsidian altar surrounded by candles I had lit that morning and called for someone I considered a friend to save me like she once had before. It was on that very altar that my innocence was ripped from me. No matter how much I begged, cried and screamed he did not stop and my Lady did not come. After that man finished inside of me he left me broken upon the altar of the very person claimed to protect me. She did not care for me at all."

By now the tears were cascading down the woman's cheeks. Percy could not help his feeling of rage at what happened to her. Literally within arm's reach of him was one of the single most dangerous monsters in the world, balling her eyes out. Still, she had attempted to comfort him so he tried to do the same. He took one of her scaly clawed hands into his own and placed his other on top while he gently squeezed hers.

"You don't have to continue if you don't want to." He said to her soothingly.

She flashed him a small smile before responding. "It is all right. I can finish." She took several deep breaths and then spoke again.

"In my grief I pushed over the altar where it shattered on the floor. I then grabbed one of the shards and plunged it into my chest. That's how my sisters found me naked and bruised with a jagged splinter of obsidian sticking out of my body lying in a growing pool of my own blood. Stheno and Euryale tried to help me, but I was too far gone. The both hugged close while the life drained form my body. They prayed together, they begged and pleaded for Athena to save me, but I already knew she wouldn't come. I had already tried. And then a bright flash of light flooded the temple, we thought that finally our prayers had been heard. I remember feeling warm all over, then hot, then burning. I can remember screaming until my throat bled as the remaining blood pumping through my veins boiled. The red pool darkened and became a sickly green as all of my blood became poison. Worse was that in their hast to reach me, neither of my sisters had avoided the many razor sharp obsidian fragments around me giving them many small open wounds into which my poisonous blood flowed. I saw them both scream and convulse before I lost consciousness. When I awoke I had become this hideous creature and so had by beloved sisters. We were forced to flee when the temple began collapsing around us leaving nothing but dust where our home had once been.

I later learned that Poseidon had gone to the summer solstice feast on Olympus after he left me, and had purposely bragged about how I spread myself for him. He told my Lady how I moaned like a whore. How I shuddered from orgasm after orgasm due to his skill. In anger Athena cursed me with to become the horrible thing she could imagine.

No one believed me when I tried to tell my side. To the Olympians it was an easy fix to get rid of us three anyway. From there my story is written as the monster who terrorized demigods and mortals. I believe you can fill in the rest" She finished rather bitterly.

Silence filled the small clearing like an avalanche. What could he say in response? He was sorry? That hardly seemed appropriate. The last thing she would want was pity. He resigned himself to holding her hand for a while longer.

After what felt like hours he finally found something to say. Rather he decided that if she was going to be honest so would he.

"Six months ago," he began, capturing her attention. "Amphitrite came to me in tears. He had cheated on her again, this time in their own bed which was the last sin he had not yet committed. I did my best to help her and she stayed with me ever since. Today some of his men came and took her back to Atlantis. There was nothing I could do. She refused to allow me to fight them. Right now I'm terrified about what could be happening. I am afraid he is hurting her again. To make matters worse he sent me a letter informing me that I'm getting married to someone I've never met from a place I've never heard of. I don't want to, I want Amphitrite back… because I think I love her."

It was the first time he had admitted his feelings for the former queen. Now that he had said it he realized just how true it was. Everything about that woman made him happy. In his eye she was perfect. He did not know if it was too soon to say that his feelings were more than infatuation, but he really wanted to find out. He felt himself cry for the first time that day as the comprehension of how profound this loss was struck him.

"I want to help you." He said after several minutes. "I can't remove your curse myself but maybe I can get someone else to." As he spoke he became more confident in his words. "In the meantime I can offer you a place to live without fear of attack. The basement of my building is fully furnished for demigods to use as a safe house, but it's never used because camp is so close. I can tell them I closed it due to the lack of people and you could live there safely. Your sisters too if they are around."

Even though her cheeks had pale tracks from dried tears, her bright smile made her look the happiest he had seen the snake woman.

"Yes," she said. "They are here. Euryale is sleeping in what's left of the building over there, and Stheno went to look for food. She will probably return sometime soon."

"If you don't mind me asking, how come most of your statues look terrified if they weren't alive?" Percy wondered aloud.

Her answer was simple. "It scares people away."

He nodded. "Makes sense. But I just realized we do have one problem."

"You mean besides you committing treason against Olympus for harboring monsters?" She questioned sarcastically.

Deciding to ignore that little jab he continued. "You can change shape right? Like last time we met you had legs because otherwise you are way too big to fit in my car comfortably. That doesn't even include your two equally sized sisters…Shit!" He exclaimed the last part. "It wouldn't matter because I'm out of gas anyway."

"Well I cannot help you with the second problem. However the first is still relevant." Medusa slowly brought the tip of her long tale towards Percy. She motioned for him to hold out his hand, which he did, before laying the very tip onto his palm.

The prince was unsure what she was doing. When her tail touched his hand he was shocked to learn it was soft. Despite its coarse scaly appearance the end of the snake woman's tail felt like smooth skin. He closed his hand around it and unconsciously traced the patterns of each individual scale with his thumb. Unfortunately for him his ADHD kicked in and he said the first thing in his mind.

"It's not slimy." He muttered.

Behind her dark glasses Medusa rolled her eyes. "Snakes do not generate slime. Moving on; watch."

She moved her hand down her torso to where her human female waist met the serpent body holding her up. It blurred slightly and then became a pair of sharply legs clad in tight blue jeans.

She looked at him expectantly "Understand?"

"Um no" was Percy's eloquent response.

Once again she rolled her eyes behind the dark lenses. To emphasize her point she wiggled her now invisible tail in his hand. The woman had to contain the giggle at the greatest hero of Olympus jumping in surprise.

"Not the reaction I was going for." She stated flatly. "But you get my point. These legs are merely an illusion from the mist. I have not actually changed my body in any way."

"Ok." Percy said thoughtfully "I may have an idea." He pulled out his cellphone, which luckily still had some signal, and tapped the contact to call. After three rings a voice answered.

"What's up Perce?" The female voice asked him.

Crossing his fingers he replied; "Hey Rach, I need a huge favor."

Eight hours later an orange and white painted U-haul with black and blue Maserati towed behind parked in the back of an upscale apartment building. A black haired man stepped out of the passenger side door and walked around to the rear. After a few minutes detaching the expensive sports car from rear of the truck he lifted up the back door revealing three disheveled snake women. He raised his hands in defense of the red scaled Euryale's harsh glare. It was hardly his fault the moving truck had no seatbelts in the back, nor could he be blamed for Rachael's somewhat erratic driving.

He helped Medusa and Stheno out of the truck. Euryale had made it abundantly clear that she did not like or trust him, so she asked her sisters to help her down instead of Percy. He could understand her apprehension, but he hoped it would not last for very long.

He led the three sisters to the back entrance for the basement apartment. It was set up to be a hideout for demigods so the entrance was hidden by mist. The area was well furnished with three bedrooms each with their own bathroom and a central living room along with a kitchen to the side. About the only major difference between this apartment and the normal ones above it was that this one had no windows. It was located in a second basement below the maintenance area and the superintendent's quarters. All three Gorgon's told him they were happy with the accommodations.

Once the three snake sisters had been settled into their new home he made his way back out to the truck to speak with his favorite billionaire. Technically she was the only billionaire he knew but that was beside the point.

"I owe you big time Rach."

The frizzy red haired young woman simply giggled. "It's no big deal. I never get to see you anymore, so I had a lot of fun driving with you."

He nodded. It had been almost a year since they had last spent time together. Ever since her father founded the Dare Conservation Group and placed her in charge as a peace offering for her eighteenth birthday she spent most of her time traveling the world protecting environmental locations. Although they spoke often through Skype, the last time he had seen her in person she was leaving for Brazil and he had driven her to the airport.

"I had a lot of fun too. When are you leaving next?" He asked.

She laughed again before answering. "Not for another few days. DCG just got another big partner and I have to fly out to London to meet with a representative of Berkshire Hathaway who is going to introduce me to the CEO of our new partner. It's a European Tech company based out of York."

"So you're going from New York to Old York?" He couldn't help himself. It sounded too funny.

Rachael giggled for a moment. Percy could always make him laugh, it was part of the reason she loves him so much. Platonically of course. "Yes, but it's just called York not Old York. It's getting later Percy, I hope we can hang out again soon." She leaned out of the driver's seat, her red curls framing her pale freckled face, and kissed his cheek. "Night Perce." She called out before driving away.

Exhausted he made his way back inside to the elevator, to his apartment, and finally into his soft bed. The digital clock mocked him in bright red numbers reading 3:01 am. He had now been awake for 22 hours straight. Groaning he collapsed his head onto the cool pillow and soon drifted off to sleep.

When Percy opened his eyes the first thing he noticed was he was not in his bed. Instead he was laying on sand with small waves lapping at his feet. Immediately he stood and was on guard, he was wearing only a pair of SpongeBob Squarepants boxers, a joke gift from Leo that he only wore to sleep. He felt extremely exposed, not because of his lack of more substantial clothing, but because he had no weapons or armor. It would be easy for an enemy to cut him down or for an arrow to pierce his chest. He heard footsteps behind him and twisted around, crouching low and gathering some water from the sea to form a spear in his right hand. If he was going to be killed he would not make it easy for his attacker. Much to his shock instead of some monster standing before him there was a woman he recognized.

"Lady Tethys?" He asked tentatively not releasing his water spear. It could still be a trap, most immortals and monsters could change forms. Also if it was her, he did not know why she would contact him now. They had not spoken since that time over a month ago.

"Yes, although," With a wave of her hand his spear turned into a fine mist. "I prefer not to be threatened when I'm spoken to. I can forgive you this time because of you have many enemies but do not make a habit of it."

Percy shivered slightly and nodded so fast he might have hurt his neck. He could tell she was annoyed and her display of power proved to him he did not stand even the slightest chance in a fight against her. It also gave him a small amount of hope too. If she wanted to kill him she would have done it by now, so hopefully this will be another conversational meeting.

Seeing his understanding Tethys spoke once again. "Good. Now come with me. My husband wants to speak with you. He figured you would be less likely to react with hostility to one of us rather than both at once. Especially because you were not expecting this summons."

The black haired hero could not argue with that logic. He followed Tethys as she led him across the small island to what appeared to be a wooden bungalow. How he did not notice it before surprised him, but he chalked it up to being in a dream rather than a physical place.

Inside was quite homey. There was soft white sand instead of a floor along with light colored wooden walls that wrapped around the single room in a large circle. Instead of glass windows there were simply two moderate sized holes cut shoulder height into the wall with light blue cloth curtains framing them. Within the room itself were several woven bamboo chairs centered around a small stone table about knee height. Sitting on one of the chairs was a man he immediately recognized as Oceanus wearing the same chiton as before.

The older man gestured for the younger man to sit in the chair opposite him. Tethys also sat across from Percy next to her husband. She brush a few stands of her chestnut brown hair away from her face leaned slightly against him.

"Perseus," Oceanus spoke. "It has come to our attention that you are in need of guidance."

Curious Percy questioned. "Why do you say that?"

He frowned deeply at the prince. "Young man, you summoned a class one hurricane yesterday. Intentional or not you placed many people in potential risk. If you father is not going to help you control your immense power than you need someone who will. First I need you to tell me what caused you to summon that storm."

Noticeably apprehensive about that particular topic Percy responded. "I appreciate you wanting to help me, even if I don't know why, but I'd rather not discuss that right now."

Tethys leaned closer to Percy so that she could place her hand on his shoulder. "Please tell us. We cannot help you if do not tell us the problem."

Percy was silent for several minutes as he internally debated his circumstances. Her compassionate expression eventually caved his reluctance and he told them everything. From the time Amphitrite fist arrived to his sister Kym's unexpected visit. He told them all about his past few months growing closer to the Queen including his fears that he was becoming attracted to her. And finally he described the exasperating events of the previous day. He finished his story with several choice expletives about Poseidon.

"Perseus there are some important things you must know about the nature of gods themselves, specifically your father." Oceanus informed him.

"I don't care about that bastard." The young prince snapped.

The older man raised his hands in a placating manner before continuing. He was hoping not to upset the young man further, but this was an important matter. "I understand Perseus. You are angry at your father, and perhaps rightfully so. I too strongly dislike how he has treated my favorite granddaughter, among many others." He muttered the last part on his breath quietly enough that the demigod almost missed it. "There is an underlying reason for it. Not that it in anyway justifies his actions, but a reason none the less. You see young hero, Gods are more powerful than their Titan counterparts. There are exceptions of course, Chronos has no Godly counterpart so he maintains control over his domains. I also am one. I am far more powerful than your father, who is my counterpart, because I am the firstborn of two Primordials."

Oceanus paused for a moment to make sure his rivals son was still listening. "The reason for the power difference is not because Gods are superior, like many of them believe, but actually the connections to the domains. In this case we will use your father as an example. Also for this assume that I am the Titan of the Sea without the added powered from my direct heritage. In this case your father would be much stronger than me."

Noticing that Percy was starting to become confused, Oceanus decided to change his approach to something more relatable for the demigod. "Think of Titans connections to their domains like a one way road. The power from the domain flows directly to the Titan and they gain its immense power. Gods are similar, but they would have a two way road. The domain sends power to them and they also send power to their domain. This more intimate connection allows for much more traffic as you will between the two, thus giving the gods a significantly larger amount of power compared to a Titan."

Percy's face was pensive with a glimmer of understanding in his eyes. Oceanus smiled internally. This boy was far cleverer than people assumed. "I am sure you are starting to see my point. Because of their connection Gods are also very much influenced by their domains. In the care of your father he can be irrational and unpredictable like the sea. Since every domain has two sides he is affected by both. The ocean is just as much a source of life as it is death. The sea is unrelenting and it claims whatever it wants just like Poseidon. Compare it to another God; Zeus. That man has several domains, one of his lesser known ones is Justice…"

Percy snorted in derision interrupting Oceanus. Rather than be upset by the younger man's attitude, Oceanus smiled and used it to make his point. "Ah, but is Justice always fair? Does not the guilty sometimes escape and the innocent sometimes imprisoned? This is the downside of a God's power. They cannot be wholly good or bad because their domains affect them so much. It is the origin of their Fatal Flaws that we Titans do not have. And in the case of Gods it becomes stronger the more powerful the God is. It does not excuse any of their actions but it will help you understand they are not perfect, they have done as many terrible things as wonderful things."

This was a lot to take in for Percy. He was looking at things in terms of black and white when they are really more shades of grey. He did have a question that was nagging at him. "But what about Aphrodite? She's not a god and she's a total bitch. And Hestia is the strongest Olympian and she is isn't crazy."

The smile on the Titan Sea King's face only widened. He knew there was a reason he liked this boy. He was extremely astute, albeit in sparse moments, when it was necessary. "Actually Perseus, Aphrodite is a goddess. In fact she is the most powerful in existence. She was born from the flesh of one primordial bathed in the domain of another. She could very likely singlehandedly overthrow the entire council if she so wished. Never forget that just because someone rarely uses their power does not mean it is not there. Before her, love did not exist for mortals. Immortals had the Primordial Eros who gifted us with the ability to feel but mortals could not. Aphrodite introduced several emotions to all of humanity. She can visibly see the connections of all people. She once described to me as colored stings extending between people and she instinctually knew what all of them meant. As you can imagine it also makes her extremely dangerous to immortals because she can see the same connections with them even if she cannot manipulate them like with mortals. Unlike almost all immortals her domain actually expands as mortal population expands." Oceanus paused as his smile morphed into a deep frown. "With how strongly she is affected by her domains I fear someday the poor girl will finally slip completely into madness."

Despite his frustration with the love goddess interfering with his past relationships, Percy could not help but feel some sympathy for her. All those thousands of years ago there could have been a few million humans in the entire world at most, now with close to 7.5 billion it must be overwhelming for her. He briefly wondered why none of her demigod children were strong if she was, but Piper was a good example of how ridiculously powerful they could be if they tried. A though that brought an involuntary shiver down his body. Who knows how many children she had worldwide, and if they all got to Piper's ability level or higher they could easily conquer the world. Maybe it was for the better that children of Aphrodite tended to be more obsessed with their own appearance than any greater ambition.

Before Percy had a chance to voice his thoughts Oceanus continued. "As for Hestia, she is also a rather sad case. She is strongly affected by the negative aspects pf her domains. The sadness of a broken family, the pain of the young daughter raped by her stepfather, the helplessness of a son killing himself. Anything bad that happens to a family she is affected by and she uses her flames as a cleanser. She refuses to act irrationally like other gods so she internalizes everything. Beneath her chosen appearance her natural appearance is deeply burned and scared. In a matter similar to mortal self-harm she allows her powers to backlash into her own body causing her extreme pain but it allows her to always protect her own family as she has always done."

"That's… That's… it's horrible." Percy actually had trouble finding any words in response. The image of the sweet caring little girl she presented herself as being in any kind of torment was extremely disturbing to him.

"Perhaps, but it is her decision. She prefers to suffer herself than to have her family potentially suffer." Tethys responded in a soft voice.

Regaining his composure Percy developed a deep frown. "Do you really think that excuses everything?"

"Absolutely not." Oceanus stated sternly. "Nothing justifies his many rapes and killings. You just need to recognize that Poseidon will always be unpredictable and selfish. I am sorry to destroy your faith in your own father."

"I started to do that months ago." The younger man said sadly. "I always had so much trust in Olympus, but now it feels like they are the real bad guys."

Before the two titans could say anything more to the impressionable demigod the world around them began to fade. Soon both of them had disappeared completely leaving Percy alone. Seconds later the small bungalow vanished as well along with everything else.

Opening his eyes, Percy noticed he was back in his bed. He groaned noisily and buried his face back into his pillow. The loud ringing continued. In his sleep deprived mind it took him a few moments to recognize the sound as someone ringing his doorbell repeatedly. Looking at his bedside clock he noticed that the digital red figures told him it was just after four in the morning. He had only been asleep for an hour at most.

The young adult groaned again and seriously considered just hiding beneath a pair of pillows instead of answering the door. Finally the ringing stopped and he had hoped that whoever it was had left. He was wrong. Soon the short silence was broken by pounding on his bedroom door. It was obviously an immortal and they were only ringing his doorbell out of politeness. Based on the incessant knocking they had become frustrated and decided to be even more direct. He guessed that it was only a matter of time before the person on the other side of the door simply gave up the pretense of courtesy and simply flashed directly into his room.

With great effort Percy pulled himself out of his warm soft inviting bed. He shuffled slowly over to the door while thinking about all of the profanities he was going to scream at his rude visitor. Normally he would at least try to be respectful around an immortal, but he was just too damn tired not to be cranky. Wrenching the door open ready to give this intruder a piece of is hind his outburst died in his throat when he saw who was there.

Standing before him in the dim moonlight shining from the many windows was a stunningly beautiful woman. She had long auburn hair that fell strait down past her shoulders where it curled at the ends. Her face was soft with shining silver eyes peeking out from behind her long bangs. The woman was wearing a black parka over a black long sleeve shirt that matched her black pants. Around her neck was a silver chain that had a silver pendant of a flower shaped similar to the starfish.

All of Percy's attention was drawn the small child with matching auburn hair who was sleeping in the visitor's arms.

 **AN:**

 **I hope you liked it as much as I did writing it. I am not totally sure about Rachael's scene (it felt like something was missing) but I think it turned out ok at least. Also feel free to guess the identity of the mysterious visitors, one of them is pretty obvious though. Below are my notes from writing the chapter, they have some extra information about things within the story. The last one has a minor spoiler and the second to last contains another clue to one of the visitors. As always thank you for reading and if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or concerns feel free to voice them in the comments section or private message me. I will do my best to respond quickly.**

· I removed all of the accents over the vowels and the specialized letters because my keyboard doesn't support them and it's a massive pain in the ass to keep copying and pasting.

· There are not many descriptions or paintings/carvings of Aegir, one of them depicts him with fish scales on his arms and legs.

· Hlésey literally translates to Hlér Island. Two ancient sources claim Hlér is the same person as Aegir. I removed him as a separate person and made his home into Aegir's kingdom. Hlésey also means Læsø in Danish which is an actual island of the coast of Denmark.

· Vaikuntha is the home of Vishnu in Hinduism. It's complicated but he could be considered the leader of that pantheon (in this he is), so his home would be comparable to Olympus as the home of the pantheon's deities.

· January 5th is a neo-pagan holiday honoring all of the Greek sea deities specifically Poseidon and Amphitrite. The original ancient holiday was called Posidea and only honored Poseidon, but I kind of like the modern one instead.

· Cocytus does have one daughter named Menthe but no known consorts or husbands so the father is unknown

· Bonus points if you remember what her dream was. (Hint: chapter 5)

· d'Orleans is actually the name of the royal family of France.

· Maserati GranTurismo MC CE has a MPG of 21 and a 20 gallon tank. That means ¾ of a tank is 315 miles. (yay math)

· In _Lightning Thief_ Annabeth explains a child friendly version of Medusa's curse. Of course doesn't pay attention, hence his confusion now.

· Classical mythology has the Hesperides (Zoe and her sisters) as daughters Phorcys and Keto, I am not sure why Riordan changed it to Atlas and Pleione

· Keto is possibly the mother of Thoosa (mother of Polyphemus with Poseidon) but Riordan does not mention the connection and since Thoosa's only known parent is Phorcys, she has a different mother.

· Berkshire Hathaway is an American company and as of 2016 the fourth highest earning company in the world. It would not be uncommon for them to have interatrial connections

· Interestingly enough I learned that Hecate is listed as a Virgin goddess even though she has children and lovers. (She isn't in this)

· Anyone who has ever been in a bad relationship knows love isn't always happy so I wanted to show a more dark side of Aphrodite. Remember there are also misguided people whose obsessive love leads to violent crimes

· The earliest world population estimates are 10,000bc with between 2-4 million people. Greek mythology has a rather difficult timeline but that would be around Aphrodite's birth since the Titans had just begun their reign

· Serious points if you recognize the flower pendant. If not don't feel bad its rather niche but it is a (MINOR SPOILER) Solanum Elaeagnifolium flower, also known as a Silver Nightshade…the plant Zoe is named after

· MINOR SPOILER: if you think that I am being too harsh with the gods, or notice some of the flaws in Oceanus' information section, try to remember that he may also be editing his story to convince Percy to join him over his father.

 **One last thing, I am surprised no one noticed but there is no beach in Manhattan. there are some edits I want to make on the entire story so the next few updates might be previous chapters being reposted with additional content and/or minor changes.**


	7. Weekend Dad

**This is way sooner than I had originally planned** **so I'm pretty happy about that... Also this is actually the most explicit chapter I have ever written for this, in both sexual nature and violence. I don't think it qualifies as M yet though. A lot of this chapter is flashback, but is very important. You get the answers you want of the mysterious girls...**

"Artemis!" Percy exclaimed. All signs of his weariness instantly evaporated as he stood strait up. She was the last person he was expecting to visit him at four in the morning. Not that he ever expected visitors that early, but if he did it would probably be Apollo coming off of a bender. Right about now he would have preferred a wasted sun god because the sober moon goddess looked rather annoyed.

"Shhh." She hushed him while motioning to the sleeping figure in her arms. It dawned on him that he had practically shouted her name causing the sleeping girl to stir. Luckily he had not inadvertently woken up the child or he would be in a world of pain from an angry mother.

He nodded in understanding and made a locking motion with his fingers over his mouth. This silly act brought a small smile to the goddess's lips. Taking that as a good sign Percy held out his arms to receive the young girl from her mother. As usual there was a hint of reluctance in Artemis's body language before she passed her precious daughter into a man's grasp. Again he was reminded that he was likely the only person alive that could actually take the child from her without being gruesomely killed. Percy took a moment to cradle the little girl to his chest and then carefully placed her on his bed. Once he had tucked her into the sheets he motioned for the silver eyed goddess to follow him into the living room.

"Luna has grown a lot." He commented once they were far enough to speak without disturbing the young girl's sleep.

Artemis collapsed onto the nearby couch. She slipped off her black hunting boots leaving her feet clad in tight black stockings that disappeared into the legs of her pants. Then she folded her legs underneath her bottom and leaned against the soft couch back in a distinctly undignified pose for a proud goddess. It was another major sign of the trust she held for Percy that she could be so relaxed in his presence.

When she finally became comfortable she responded while a frown marred her pretty face. "Yes, but I am very worried about her. She is almost a year old and still has the body and mind of a child."

The only man in the room laughed for a second. "She looks like she grew three whole years since I last saw her only seven months ago."

Artemis' frown deepened. "Exactly. Luna is a goddess. She should be growing faster. The day after I was born I was mature enough to help my mother give birth to my idiot twin. Within a week I was fully grown, and within a month I had complete mastery of my powers. By now she should have been an adult for months."

Sometimes it was easy to forget that immortals lived their entire childhood in the span of a week or two depending on their level of raw power. For Luna to still be a child was actually unheard of. He could defiantly understand the moon goddess's anxiety over her daughter's abnormal growth. She was probably very afraid something was wrong with her child. Maybe rightfully so because the only other birth using the method she had used was Hephaestus and he had some serious birth defects. The injuries from being thrown off Olympus notwithstanding.

"She seems healthy though," Percy spoke in an attempt to comfort the distressed mother. "It could be a minor side effect of her dual nature."

"Maybe." She sounded unconvinced.

He decided that this was one discussion he would not win. He did not have an answer for the child's slow development and continuing to speak about it would only upset the mother further. In his mind the best course of action was to distract her.

"I'm sure you are here for a reason. Is there something I can help you with?" He asked while simultaneously praying she would not notice his obvious plan.

She nodded her head. "I just got an emergency order from Zeus. The hunters and I are going on a short journey and I need you to watch Luna. I don't want her with us during this hunt."

Noting the air of seriousness in the huntress's voice he decided to forgo the joke he was thinking and directly asked a question that was on his mind. "Should I be worried about the hunters' and your safety?"

Even if he knew they were all very competent, a mission so dangerous she would not bring Luna as she normally did had him nervous. Also he was the only person on earth whom she had confided in so he knew much more about her mentality than anyone else. He knew exactly what she went through recently and he was worried what she would do if she lost a hunter during this mission.

She shook her head causing her hair to partially obscure her face. While tucking the loose strands behind her left ear she answered him. "No. It should not be dangerous. We are traveling down to Mexico City to speak with some important people, but as you know, we will lose much of our power when traveling outside of the United States. I just do not want Luna to go through that while I am still concerned over her development. Also she has been begging me to let spend some more time with her 'father.'"

The last word 'father' she said while using her fingers to make quotation mark gestures with a knowing smile. It was true that Percy was not genetically Luna's father. However, he was the only man besides Apollo that knew about her true origins so she considered him her father. His closeness with her mother also helped quite a bit in that regard as well.

He remembered the last time he saw Luna she had recently begun talking and had started calling him daddy. Originally both he and Artemis had tried to explain to the toddler that he was not her father, but soon were forced to give up trying due to her persistence. Something that secretly made him very happy.

Unfortunately, as much as he wanted to babysit, he could not watch over the girl. "Artemis, I can't. You know I would never turn down an opportunity to spend some time with my favorite girl but I have my own crisis to deal with right now."

Instead of being mad like he expected her to be, the moon goddess gave him a look full of concern. "What is wrong?" she asked him.

"Nothing I can't handle. Don't worry Arty."

Let it be known that Artemis was not without flaws, but ignorance was not one of them. She could clearly see it was effecting her friend. The moment she asked him his hands had unconsciously clenched. He had refused to meet her eyes during his response. And most importantly he called her Arty. She hated that stupid nickname her brother came up with. Percy had only used it to get her mad at its use so that she would forget about her question. It was a rather clever strategy, especially for someone know for doing things without thinking, but she saw right through it.

"If you do not tell me I will bring Luna to Apollo to watch and you'll never get to visit again." It was a dirty trick and they both knew it. Luna filled in part of the hole in Percy's heart from Zoey's loss. She meant almost as much to him as she did to Artemis herself. Furthermore she would never seriously entertain leaving her daughter with her man-whore of a brother. If Percy really did refuse she would most likely ask Thalia to stay behind to watch her.

Their eyes locked in a standoff for several minutes until the Hero of Olympus crumbled under her gaze. Besides she trusted him to take care of her daughter the least he could do is tell her the truth. He explained everything that had happened to him since they last spoke. He told her every detail of Amphitrite's visit and then Kymopoleia's short stay. He even told her of his conversations with two Titans. It was a risk because she could tell her father he had committed treason, but he wanted to give her the same trust she gave him. Percy finally concluded his explanation with the events of the previous day including Amphitrite's abduction, the letter's contents, Medusa's story, and his second discussion with the titans.

For a long time she was completely silent. He had actually begun to sweat a little. If she decided to tell anyone of his recent actions there was no doubt he would be executed or banished to Tartarus. A man hating goddess literally held his fate in her hands. Finally after what felt like hours to him, she let out a deep sigh.

"Why must you always be so difficult?" She asked him while pinching the bridge of her nose.

He opened his mouth to speak but she raised her hand to cut him off. "I don't have time to deal with this now. We have to leave in half an hour, so I'll make this quick. You are an idiot."

Once again he tried to talk only to be interrupted by her. "But your heart is in the right place. Believe it or not I do not automatically know whenever a maiden has been abused or else I would have vaporized every last man responsible Ancient Laws be damned. I had no reason to doubt the story I was told about Medusa and I suspect you may be the first person she has told in a very long time. If she has told anyone at all. I will try to help them, but I cannot make any promises because it was not my curse. Anyway I will need to hear their story from them myself, and they will need to swear on the Styx it is the truth, before I do anything. Oh don't look so surprised, I am willing to help any maiden that has been wronged. Besides those three have never hurt any of my hunters in the past so I have nothing to hold a grudge for."

She paused for a moment before continuing. "As for Amphitrite, that is much more of a complicated problem I will try to think of something this weekend. Just promise me you will not do anything stupid."

"Thank you so much, and I promise." At last he was able to speak.

The black clad goddess stood from the couch she was sitting on. "One last thing, a lot of what those titans told you was the truth, but not all. Be very careful around them because they may have an ulterior motive."

Artemis gave him a quick hug then proceeded to flash out of his apartment. Leaving Percy alone in the moonlight streaming through the windows that seemed a little brighter than usual.

All at once his exhaustion came back full force. He soon fell asleep in the loveseat he had been sitting on. While he slept his dreams reminded him just how he had gotten into this odd relationship with a manhating virgin goddess.

 _Percy Jackson, Second Prince of Atlantis, two time Hero of Olympus, Slayer of Giants, Bane of Titans, and Terror of Monsters, was drunk. Tomorrow was August first, the three year anniversary of Gia's defeat and there was a large festival in Olympus that night to celebrate. He would not be there though. He felt he had nothing to celebrate. Just under six months ago the love of his life and his newborn daughter were taken from him. Tomorrow would only serve to remind him of his loss._

 _Instead he would spend the next night the same as he spent this night and the ones before. In a bar drinking until he could no longer remember his pain. Technically he was under the legal drinking age, but his fake ID was a perfect forgery made by Hermes. Besides he had not started using it until a few days ago and he would be 21 and therefore legal in 19 days anyway so he did not feel very guilty._

 _His birthday. It would be the first time in almost ten years that he will celebrate it without Annabeth. That thought alone caused him to take another large sip of his beer. A little voice in his head told him if he drank enough than he would not have to suffer through it. He squashed that voice quickly. No matter how upset he was, he could not do that to his mother. He now knew first had how difficult it was to have your child die before you. He would NOT put her through that. So lost in his dark thoughts he did not notice someone joining him in the secluded both. It wasn't until a famine voice spoke that he actually realized he was no longer alone._

 _"_ _Do you hate me?" A soft voice asked._

 _For the first time Percy looked up to see there was someone sitting across from him. She had long auburn hair flowing past her shoulders and was wearing a faded grey t-shirt with a yellow Wonder Woman symbol across the chest. Her silver eyes locked onto his green ones as she looked on the verge of tears._

 _Instinctually he knew who she was and what she was talking about. In his alcohol clouded mind he did not question why she was there. Instead he simply answered truthfully in one word._

 _"_ _No."_

 _"_ _Because I do." She continued as if she had not heard him. "Tomorrow I have to sit on my throne at the council and pretend I am happy during the festival. Two years ago tomorrow 22 of my hunters were killed."_

 _Slow as he was from his drinking, Percy noticed some of the telltale signs of drinking in the goddess across from him. The edges of her silver eyes were slightly bloodshot, although that could have been from crying as well. Her body had a very slight sway back and forth as she sat there, and lastly there was an almost unnoticed slur in her voice whenever she made an s sound._

 _"_ _Lady Artemis, are you all right?" He asked politely even if it was obvious she was not._

 _"_ _It's all just too much for me." She answered with the slight slur making it's sound like ish._

 _Honestly he was not sure how to handle this situation. Artemis was known to turn men into jakolopes when she was in a bad mood. On the other had he was a little too drunk to really care about the potential furry consequences. "What is?"_

 _Ignoring his second question she asked something of her own. "Can you keep a secret Percy?"_

 _"_ _Yes." At this point he felt it was best to just go along with it._

 _"_ _I am not really a virgin." She whispered._

 _That was definitely not something he would have expected her to tell him. Not in a billion years. Not even if, for some ridiculous reason, his life hung in the balance unless she confessed that._

 _"_ _Well technically I am," she continued in her normal voice. "I have never had sex with a man, or had a penis near me." She paused and then giggled. "Except that fool Actaeon who thought he could covertly pleasure himself while I bathed. I wonder how much he enjoyed being eaten alive by rabid dogs."_

 _Once again she let out a small drunken giggle. Then she leaned in towards Percy and whispered conspiratorially. "But I have had sex with women."_

 _Artemis leaned back to her original position. "My oath was to forgo the company of men so I have never broken it. Besides by our standards, sex with a woman does not count. Even if it is penetrative or breaks the woman's hymen she is still considered a virgin. Your modern American standards are progressive enough to recognize it but the old standards of Olympus do not. It's funny I am a virgin and I am not at the same time. Like that Australian guy's cat." She broke into another fit of giggles._

 _Suddenly her cheerful laughing devolved into soft sobs. Golden trails began to trace their way down her cheek. "I miss her so much. When if first formed my hunters I thought of them all as my younger sisters and then later as daughters. I was so old compared to them. The closed to my age was Callisto who was eleven houndred years my junior."_

 _Artemis let out a choked sob. At that point Percy was not even sure if she remembered she was talking to him anymore. It sounded to him like she had become lost in her own memories._

 _Her voice was audibly shaking when she continued. "The poor girl. We never knew she was raped. She never told us, we ju- ju- just thought she had betrayed us. It wasn't until centuries after her death that Zeus mentioned he enjoyed forcing himself on her." Part way through her voice cracked causing a small stutter._

 _"_ _I always fail my hunters." At this she broke down completely into tears. They cascaded down her face staining the collar of her grey shirt golden._

 _Something about one of the strongest women he knew weeping like a small child was deeply moving. He wanted nothing more than to help her. To stop her crying. Unfortunately his ADHD chose this moment to rear its ugly head._

 _"_ _Was she the one you miss?" He questioned stupidly._

 _"_ _No." She sniffled. Artemis grabbed Percy's beer from across the table. She drank the entire bottle and then spoke again "I do miss her but she was not my lover. It was near the end of the hunts first millennia when I met Zoe. She was different. She knew what it was like to grow up immortal. To have an arrogant dick of a father. Plus she was really close to my age, only about 30 years older than me actually. Both of us were born before the Titanomancy and then lived through it, although she did not leave the Garden during the war."_

 _She had once again begun smiling. Her quick changing moods were starting to give Percy whiplash. He silently vowed to himself that if he ever came out of this crazy meeting alive he was going to make sure Artemis never touched a drop of alcohol again._

 _"_ _I don't really know how it happened, but we fell in love. We spent thousands of years together. It was amazing. I loved her so much. We weren't the only ones you know. Several of my hunters were together as couples. Then that fucking bastard killed her. She died in my arms. Twice."_

 _That last part caught Percy off guard. What did she mean twice? Was Zoe reincarnated before? He was about to ask about it when she spoke again, answering his unasked question._

 _"_ _She was reincarnated." Artemis said softly. It seemed that by now she had run dry of tears because she did not cry again. Rather she spoke miserably as if she had given up on her own life. "To you of all people. I would recognize her soul anywhere. She wouldn't have the memories of our love, but I knew with time we could make new ones. I would gladly give up my immortality to spend a mortal lifetime with her. I was prepared to also, even if she never loved me again I wanted to spend the rest of my days near her. Then she was gone. And I was all alone again…" Her voice trailed off at the end._

 _The young man's eyes widened slightly as his breath hitched in his throat. He realized what she was talking about. She was suffering because of the same even that he was. It had been the final straw that broke her carefully built wall. His baby, his little girl. Zoey wasn't just named after Zoe, she_ was _Zoe. Somehow how the wayward Hesperide turned hunter had been reincarnated into the baby girl Annabeth had given birth to. The baby that had died in Artemis' arms. It must have crushed her to have her hopes rekindled only to be brutally snuffed out minutes later. It was no wonder that she was so drunk. Tomorrow was a reminder of one a terrible loss for her while the reopened wound of another was still fresh._

 _"_ _There is something I have debated for the past three years," She said sounding surer of herself. "Tomorrow I am disbanding the hunters." Percy gasped in surprise but she continued unhindered. "There are only three of them left anyway. Now Thalia is the oldest."_

 _She paused long enough for Percy to be able to speak for himself. He had been silent for a while now. "You said 22 died in the battle, but you had 26 hunters. Shouldn't there be four not three?"_

 _Artemis gave him a sad smile. Not even her brother ever cared enough to remember exactly how many hunters she had. "The only ones that survived Orion's attack were Atalanta and Thalia. Atalanta killed herself the night after the battle. She could not live without Pheobe whom had been her lover for over 3,000 years. Lou Ellen and Miranda had joined a few days before the battle but neither of them had taken their oaths yet so they were both still at Camp Half-Blood during the war."_

 _"_ _I'm sorry Artemis." He said with as much sympathy as he could._

 _"_ _It's not your fault." She responded "None of it is."_

 _Percy ordered a few more drinks for the both of them. If he could not cheer her up than at least he could help her forget. They spoke for hours. Moving on from somber topics they talked about happy memories with loved ones. He shared with her how lost he felt and she, in turn, explained that she had not recruited any more hunters in the past three years because she was afraid to lose them._

 _At some point he had mentioned the apartment building his father had given him as a ridiculous birthday gift. He told her how he had only recently moved in because his old home had too many bitter memories. She had insisted he show her what a prince's apartment was like. Soon after they had taken a taxi to his building. He spent some time showing her around and then went up to his apartment. Both of them talked for several more hours while they enjoyed each other's company. At some point Artemis had opened a bottle of Bacchus Alcoholic Nectar for the two of them._

 _On his second glass and her third they caught each other's eyes. Slowly they inched closer. Their faces were almost touching. He could feel her warm breath on his lips, it smelled like the sweet wine they were drinking. It was an almost inviting scent. Then they were kissing. Their lips pressed together softly at first but soon became rough. They hungrily explored the other's mouth with their own tongue as their kisses evolved form innocent to passionate. Occasionally they would pause for air, only to immediately plunge their lips together once again. After what felt like hours they both withdrew to catch their panting breaths. Percy drank another glass and that was the last thing her remembered._

 _When Percy woke up the first thing he noticed was that his head was pounding worse than steel in Hephaestus' forge. The second was that he had somehow made it to his bed last night. The third and most important thing he noticed was he was not alone in his bed. The other figure had their head on his chest while they were cuddled up next to him with their legs intertwined._

 _He could not remember much of last night. He went to a bar again, that much was obvious. Then he met someone familiar, but he could not quite make out the details. They came back to his apartment and he could remember several heated make out sessions before his memory completely failed him._

 _Looking down he tried to find a clue to the person's identity. She was smaller than him, perhaps by several inches and much slimmer. That removed some of the women he knew that were his size or bigger. Unfortunately it still left him with too many candidates. The woman's hair obscured her face so that was no help, although something about the reddish brown color reminiscent of autumn leaves was very familiar. Her bare shoulders and upper back were pale and seemed to have a slight ethereal glow in the morning sunlight._

 _It felt like the person's name was right on the tip of his tongue but his hangover impaired mind could not fit the pieces of this particular puzzle together. He took a deep breath while observing the woman's head rise and fall slightly with his chest. She moaned softly as if annoyed by her impromptu pillows recent movements. Percy noticed her breath smelled sweet with a slight sharpness he immediately recognized as the bottle of BAN he had been saving for his and Annabeth's wedding anniversary. Apparently he and this woman had drunk it last night. At least it covers potential morning breath he thought to himself._

 _Still the question remained in his mind who this woman was. Deciding that he was not going to find any more clues by observing, he carefully and slowly moved a few strands of hair from her face. Nothing. She looked so damn familiar but he could not think of a name. He moved the last of the auburn hair from the sleeping woman's face. She was beautiful. And for some reason the content smile on her face made him happy, as if he had fulfilled some sort of promise._

 _For several more minutes he watched her sleep while he racked his mind for answers. Eventually she began to stir. The woman sat up stretching her arms above her head while letting out a cute yawn. Inadvertently her movement had also caused the covers to slip off her shoulder exposing her uncovered breasts to the young man. She then opened her eyes._

 _The world froze. There was only one person who had bright silver eyes and now those eyes were locked directly onto his green ones. He made carful effort not to look down at her modest B cup sized breasts because he knew it would mean instant death. Instead he tried his best to match her stare if only to pretend to be intimidating. In truth he felt as if he were a mouse before a lioness._

 _Artemis did not move. Truth be told she was in shock. For the first time ever in her life she woke up in an unfamiliar bed with a man. If the cool air on her skin was any indication she was also topless. She was both furious and scared at the same time. Two emotions she was not used to feeling together. Furious because a man would dare lay his filthy hands on her, but also scared that she had been taken advantage of. She was a maiden goddess, she did not even like men, and to have her virginity stolen from her was horrifying._

 _After a short moment she calmed down slightly, her domains informed her that she had not been penetrated and she could still feel the fabric of her panties between her legs. Much of the fear turned into boiling rage and she was seconds away from going supernova. She tried to think back to how she got here._

 _She had recalled being upset. She had cried a lot about the festival, and then nothing. No wait! She remembered sneaking into Apollo's gaudy golden temple on Olympus and stealing his stash of Olympian alcohol. She spent some time in her Temple drinking it all, and then when she finished she flashed to earth to find more. There was a bar called Apollo's Bow. She went there because she had thought she could find her brother. He wasn't, but there was someone she did recognize._

 _She remembered stumbling over to the booth in the back corner of the bar where a lone man sat alone. Those same sea green eyes that were locked on hers now. It all came back to her. Everything she said, everything she did. She panicked. Artemis was not afraid to admit that after countless millennia facing the most dangerous creatures in existence, she had finally found something she could not handle. She shut her eyes and ran away._

 _When Artemis closed her eyes and began glowing, Percy thought that was it. His life was over. He expected to feel his skin burning as she assumed her godly form. Or maybe suddenly find himself very small and furry sailing out a 15_ _th_ _story window. Or even feel a cold blade pierce between his ribs._

 _None of those things happened. Instead she simply disappeared. She flashed out of his apartment to wherever she went without saying a single word. More importantly to him, she left without punishing him for whatever happened last night. Honestly he was not sure if that was a good thing or bad thing. Was she going to come back to make him pay for his transgressions? It was all rather nerve-wracking for him._

 _Several hours later Artemis was standing in front of a floor length mirror. She was freshly bathed and still completely naked. Her eyes were drawn to the slight red marks on her upper body. On the left side of her neck was a hickey right at her pulse point. Slightly lower, along her collarbone were several smaller ones as well. She also noticed her breasts were somewhat swollen from stimulation and her left nipple had a slight discoloration around the edge._

 _She remembered the night before clearly now, probably much better than Percy because of her godly mind. She wanted so much to be angry at him. She wanted to be able to turn him into a human quiver for her arrows. But she knew the truth. She had enjoyed herself. It was her that removed her top not him. It was her that guided his lips to her left nipple. Her gaze shifted lower to a small mass of dark red curly hair and the sweet pink lips hiding beneath. Even many years after her, death Artemis still kept herself trimmed in the way that Zoe found sexy. She could still feel the ghost of fingers teasing her soft nether folds. Were they Zoe's or Percy's? She felt disgusted in herself for not knowing._

 _She also felt happy. She also remembered how kind he was with her. He listened to her story without complaining that she it was difficult to understand due to her intoxication. He even told her about himself and tried to make her feel better when he was clearly not happy himself. He was there for her when she needed someone, and for the first time since Zoe's death she had told someone how she truly felt._

 _The moon goddess frowned deeply. It was her insistence that brought them to his apartment. She had spent so very long with someone to love that without Zoe she felt lost. Even if she was intoxicated, she could not just ignore what happened. The truth was she was lonely. She had a hole in her life now that she needed to fill. She needed to have someone to share her love with, but she could never replace her precious Nightshade. Not with another woman and most certainly not with a man._

 _There was something else she could love. Something the two of them had talked about often. A dream they had always wanted to fulfill together. It was something she was always too afraid to do. She, Artemis the eternal maiden, would have a baby. She would start the family Zoe had always wanted them to have. Her baby would not be a replacement but an honor to the mother it would never know. To do so she would need someone's help._

 _Percy had convinced himself that his memory of the night with Artemis was nothing more than an extremely vivid dream. A dream that he wisely chose to keep to himself, lest the real Lady Artemis discover he had an erotic dream about her and turn him into a pincushion. He tried to remember the important details of the dream rather than the later hormone fueled sexy parts. One important thing the dream had done was show him he was not all right. He needed to change where his life was heading._

 _Sure he was still sad. He missed his family every day, but he could not continue drinking away his pain. True he was not entirely sure what some of the things dream-Artemis had said meant, he was convinced the parts where she had opened up about her feelings of loss and loneliness was his subconscious telling him to confront his demons. He could finally admit to himself that he was sad, but he could not let it consume him._

 _In the weeks since his epiphany Percy had begun taking classes at a community college. After speaking with Paul about his new life decision, Paul had mentioned that the gym teacher at Goodie High School was retiring that upcoming April. Some kind of health problem was causing him to leave before the school year was over. Paul told Percy that if he could get a basic teaching certificate within the next few months he could have the job. Originally he had been apprehensive, but it was his mom that actually reminded him that by teaching he could make a real positive impact on the lives of his students._

 _Her words convinced him. For the next three months he spent all of his time studying. At his current rate he would earn his certificate in another four months leaving him two extra months to prepare before he began his new job. It filled him with a new sense of purpose. The pain was still there, but it was a dull ache in his chest rather than a gaping hole where his heart once was. For the first time in many months he found himself smiling as he walked home from his latest class. It would not last._

 _About a quarter mile from his apartment he was suddenly lifted off of his feet with his back colliding painfully with the rough concrete exterior of the building behind him. People around him on the sidewalk began screaming and fleeing in panic. Percy tried to move but felt a searing pain blossom in his chest. Fearful of what he would find he looked down slowly. Sticking out of the center of his chest was a large golden shafted arrow. It had to be at least an inch in diameter with more than a foot protruding from between his pectoral muscles. With horror he realized he was quite literally nailed to a wall because the rest of the arrow had gone through him out his back and imbedded itself several inches into the concrete._

 _Percy briefly entertained the idea of attempting to force the rest of the arrow through his chest so that he could escape. However that idea was quickly cast aside when he noticed that the fletching's of the arrow were made from three bronze Stymphalian Bird feathers. Those razor sharp feathers would shred his internal organs into ribbons._

 _The sot was perfect too. It had entered and exited his body without touching his lungs, major arteries, or heart. A fraction of an inch in any direction and he would have been dead now. Whoever had shot him wanted him to suffer. At this rate it could take many minutes for him to fully bleed to death._

 _He noticed a figure slowly approaching him. His vision had become blurry due to shock, so it was not until the man stood feet away that he recognized him. Apollo. He was dressed in a classic Greek Chiton with gold stitching and a golden laurel resting on his head. In his right hand was a large gold bow almost as tall as the god himself. His face was scrunched up in the angriest expression he had ever seen the man wear, but the thing that scared Percy were the god's eyes. Apollo's eyes burned like liquid fire. As if there were two small suns going supernova within the golden irises. The sun god reached out with his left hand to grasp the arrow shaft before twisting it violently causing Percy to scream with all of the air in his lungs._

 _"_ _Why?" He gasped after taking several raged breaths._

 _"_ _You rapped my sister." The sun god hissed before twisting the shaft again._

 _"_ _What?" Percy choked._

 _Apollo was unfazed by his relentless torture. "You got her pregnant. Bastard!"_ _He ripped the arrow out of Percy. Bringing several small chunks of concrete with the gold arrowhead along with a large hunk of bloody flesh._

 _With the only object supporting his body gone, the young demi-god fell to his knees. There was now a hole the size of a baseball strait through his chest. Small shards of bone and pieces of lung that had been torn loose when the arrow came free now accompanied the waterfall of crimson blood that gushed from the wound. He began coughing violently, each spasm sending more blood into the sidewalk, while his lungs collapsed. Just as the world began to fade into dark he thought he heard a voice calling his name._

 _A pair of sea green eyes fluttered open. Wherever he was it was dark. The Underworld maybe? Why in the name of Tartarus would Apollo think he did something do Artemis? It was just a dream right? And anyway she was the one taking the lead in his dream, at least for a while. He couldn't remember the whole thing. Was it possible it was real? Did he really hurt her without remembering it? Could he have done something so terrible? Nothing made sense to him right now._

 _"_ _Artemis…" He whispered under his breath. What had really happened?_

 _A voice cut through his thoughts with two words. "I'm here."_

 _He felt a slender hand wrap around his right hand. He tried to sit up, but another soft hand was placed on his collar bone._

 _"_ _Do not move." The same voice said to him softly._

 _He tried, but could not suppress the drawn out groan that slipped from his throat at her touch. Slight as it was it still set his body on fire from waves of pain._

 _"_ _Shhh." The voice told him soothingly. "You are safe now."_

 _"_ _Where…?" He managed to choke out._

 _"_ _My temple. Apollo was wrong to attack you. I made him heal you and then threw his ass out." The voice sounded growled out. "What did he say to you?" She asked gently._

 _Percy drew a short breath. "He… He said Artemis was…" once again he tried to get up from where he was lying. "I need to find her. It's my fault."_

 _A gentle face entered his vision. She had burnt orange hair tied back in a long ponytail that extended over her left shoulder just past the swell of her large C cup breasts. She wore a dark blue colored turtleneck with white stiches forming the shape of a doe standing in regal pose. The woman's eyes were the color of liquid gold and seemed to glow slightly in the darkness of the room. She had a tender smile across her rose red lips as she looked down on him._

 _Her voice sounded familiar to him. "I am right here Percy."_

 _"_ _No, but you're not." He tried to say. She silenced him by placing a single pale finger on his lips._

 _"_ _My name is Diana. I am Artemis' Roman equivalent. Anything you say to me she will also know."_

 _He realized that Diana did look a lot like Artemis. Her hair was slightly lighter and she had a little more muscle mass along with a larger bust different eyes, but otherwise the same. "Is she all right?"_

 _Diana nodded. "Yes, she and I normally share one body but in her condition we need to be separate."_

 _"_ _Apollo said she was pregnant." Percy stated._

 _Again Diana nodded. "She is."_

 _A strong sense of dread filled Percy. "Did I?" He could not find the words to finish his question._

 _This time Diana shook her head. "No. You are not the father. Nor did you two even have sex that night."_

 _Equal amounts of relief and fear washed over him. He was glad he had not taking a virgin goddess' purity, but what Diana said meant that his dream was actually real._

 _"_ _If I am not than why did Apollo come after me?"_

 _Diana looked down ashamed. "Shortly after Artemis became pregnant I was forced to separate from her. We got into an argument about you and I think Apollo overheard us."_

 _"_ _What was it about?" He asked almost afraid of the answer._

 _She blushed slightly. "The *ahem* more intimate moments of your time together. She accused me of harboring secret feelings towards you and influencing her actions. It was ridiculous of course but she could not accept that she had done those things with you."_

 _Something was bothering him. "But if we didn't, you know, how did she get pregnant?"_

 _The Roman goddess' blush faded as she spoke. "There are other options for a goddess besides a man. Artemis got help from Hera to self-impregnate, but since Hephaestus had such serious birth defects, Hera suggested using another's essence to help stabilize and form the baby. She used mine. Essentially combining two of our eggs into a single one and then using a portion of our godly souls to fertilize it. For all intents and purpose I am the baby's father, yet it is more like a second mother since only female reproduction methods were used."_

 _"_ _That's incredible." Percy said._

 _"_ _However," she started uncertainly "No one beside myself, Artemis, and Hera were ever supposed to know. Apollo overheard us by accident and then he dragged you into it in a rather brutal manner. You have been unconscious for almost a week now. She was by your side almost the entire time. She blamed herself for your injuries so she was very worried about you. I told her I would watch you while she slept."_

 _"_ _Can I see her?" He asked the beautiful goddess._

 _"_ _Not now. She needs her rest, but you can once she is awake again. You should also get some rest."_

 _Percy agreed with her and let his head fall back to the pillow below. Within moments of closing his eyes he had drifted asleep._

Percy had come to the conclusion that Chaos, or whatever ultimate being controlled the universe, hated him. Not even three hours since Artemis left and he fell asleep on the couch he was being woken up again. At least this time he could not be upset because of the adorable cutie trying to get his attention. He cracked his eye open and smiled at her fake pouting face because he was ignoring her.

"Daddyyy." She complained.

Instead of answering her directly he rolled over to his side quickly grabbing her around the waist. Percy stood up while swinging Luna around in an exaggerated manner much to the delight of the little girl. Finally he set her back down while she was giggling heavily. He loved that sound. She may not have been his daughter biologically, but he still loved her with all his heart.

"Come on moonbeam," he said to her. "I'll make you breakfast."

She had a bright smile on her face as she followed him into the kitchen.

Percy made her blue pancakes from his mother's recipe. It was her favorite, something they had incoming because it was his favorite too. While they ate the two of them discussed plans for the rest of the weekend. Artemis had told him that she would be back Monday night so they had all of Saturday and Sunday together. Monday he would bring her with him to Goodie and then that night they will have a family dinner with the two of them along with both of her moms.

After breakfast Luna helped him do the dishes. She stood on her tippy toes to reach the sink while he helped her scrub the pan. Once they were done he told her to go take a shower and get dressed for a day outside. He hadn't told her yet, but he was taking her to visit the Central Park Zoo.

She ran off to his room to get ready while he watched her go with a big grin. Until Artemis came back, Luna would be his only concern. All of his other problems could wait.

 **Don't hate me Pertimis fans. I know this was somewhat of a tease for you. I do think its kind of a cute ship but its not in this story. As for the rest of their relationship, ill keep hinting back to it as time goes on. Also Artemis is not going Goth, some major changes happened to the hint that will be explained soon. don't worry.**

AN:

· The flashback takes place about a year before the start of first chapter.

· Hephaestus was born from Hera impregnating herself as an act of revenge against Zeus impregnating Metis (Athena's mom)

· Some of Greek mythology is weird; in one story Hera got impregnated by a head of lettuce and gave birth to Hebe… I'm not sure where that one came from

· Actaeon was the name of a man who spied on Artemis while she bathed and was turned into a stag before being ripped apart by his hunting dogs. There are a few other stories with different transgressions but the ending is always the same. Dog chow

· Schrödinger's Cat is not about virginity, obviously, but rather a thought experiment about quantum mechanics wherein the cat in question is both alive and dead until it has been observed. Very cool if you are into science. Also he was Austrian not Australian.

· Callisto was a hunter (possibly daughter of Lycan) that was raped and impregnated by Zeus. She hid it until she began to show her pregnancy and was cast out. Later she was turned into a bear by Hera. Eventually she met her son Arcas who was unaware the bear he was hunting was his mother. He killed her. Zeus turned her into Ursa Major and Arcas into Ursa Minor. Then they get cursed by Tethys on request of Hera to never drink water again. It's a classic Greek tale of a poor woman being screwed by immortals over and over

· Atalanta was one of the few female Greek heroines. She was abanded as a baby by her father because he wanted a son. She took Artemis' oath after nearly being raped by two centaurs (she killed them). Many years later during the Calydonian Boar Hunt she became the first to draw its blood. King Iasus wanted her to marry but she refused. There was a contest for her and the winner cheated (big surprise) and she got married. In this story she ran away before the marriage was consummated, saving her virginity.

· I know both Lou Ellen and Miranda are not part of the cannon hunt and that Miranda plays a role in the Hidden Oracle, but for this story the Trials of Apollo hasn't happened (I have not read it anyway)

· It is left ambiguous whether Lou Ellen is her full name or her only given name. For this I am using some of the evidence to assume she has a different surname.

· Until now Percy has never seen Artemis as an adult so even though she looks familiar he doesn't know who she is. The night before he was too drunk to notice she wasn't a little girl.

· Stymphalian Birds were carnivorous birds made of bronze that preyed on human flesh. Their feathers were able to slice through skin easily and could apparently be launched like projectiles at their prey

· Apollo's heart is in the right place but he really should get all the facts before leaping into action

· Obviously that is not everything that happened between percy and arty. Be patient more chapters will fill in those blanks


End file.
